White House Communications Director

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The White House Communications Director is responsible for developing and promoting the voice of the administration of the President of the United States. The director, along with his or her staff, work on speeches such as the inaugural address and the State of the Union Address. The current holder of this position under President George W. Bush is Kevin Sullivan, who took over the position from Nicolle Wallace (nee Devenish) on July 24, 2006. The Communications Director is usually given an office in the West Wing of the White House.

Historically, the position of White House Communications Director is typically given to a senior public relations staff member of the candidate's campaign staff. Typically this is either the Deputy Campaign Manager or the Campaign Communications Director. The Communications Director works closely with the White House Press Secretary, who typically was a co-worker in the president's campaign. An example of this during the 1992 Clinton Presidential Campaign is Deputy Campaign Manager George Stephanopoulos who was appointed to Communications Director after Clinton's election.

As the President's voice and vision must be clear, the Communications Director must ensure that all aspects of communications are covered to ensure that the administration's message has been delivered successfully.

In the television series The West Wing, Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff) was White House Communications Director to President Jed Bartlet, but was later replaced in this role by Will Bailey (former Deputy Communications Director and Vice President Bob Russell's Chief of Staff) after Toby was fired for leaking classified information.