Dana Perino
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Dana Perino
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 Perino in a daily press briefing, September 17, 2007 |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 14, 2007 |
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| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Tony Snow |
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| Born | May 9, 1972 Evanston, Wyoming, USA |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Peter McMahon |
| Children | None |
| Alma mater | Colorado State University-Pueblo |
| Profession | White House Press Secretary |
| Website | White House Press Briefings |
Dana Marie Perino (born May 9, 1972) is the current White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush, having taken over the position on September 14, 2007. From March 27 to April 30, 2007 she was the Acting White House Press Secretary while her predecessor, Tony Snow, underwent treatment for a recurrence of colon cancer, which claimed his life on July 12, 2008. On August 31, 2007, President Bush announced that Snow would be resigning his post and that Perino would become his replacement. She is the second woman to serve as White House Press Secretary; Dee Dee Myers was the first, during the Clinton Administration.
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[edit] Early life and career
Perino was born in Evanston, Wyoming, and grew up in Denver, Colorado, USA. She attended Ponderosa High School in Parker, Colorado, a suburb of Denver.[1] Perino graduated from the University of Southern Colorado (now known as Colorado State University-Pueblo) in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications and minors in both political science and Spanish. While attending the university, Perino was active on the debate team and with KTSC-TV, the campus-based Rocky Mountain PBS affiliate where she served as host of Capitol Journal, a weekly summary of Colorado politics, and producer of Standoff, a weekly public affairs program. From there, Perino attended graduate school at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS).[2] Perino obtained her masters at UIS in Public Affairs Reporting while also working as a daily reporter covering the Illinois Capitol for WCIA-TV, a CBS affiliate.
Perino then went on to work in Washington, D.C., for Representative Scott McInnis (R-CO, Retired) of Colorado as a staff assistant before serving nearly four years as the press secretary for Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO, Retired), who then chaired a House Commerce subcommittee on Energy and Power.[3]
After Schaefer announced his retirement, Perino moved to the United Kingdom to marry businessman Peter McMahon.[1] After a year in the UK, Perino and McMahon moved back to the United States and resided in San Diego, California, for three years. During that time, Perino worked in the field of high-tech public affairs.
In November 2001, Perino returned to Washington, D.C. to serve as a spokesperson for the Department of Justice. Several months later, she was asked to join the White House where she served as the Director of Communications for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
The House Oversight Committee have asserted in their findings on climate change censorship in the Bush Administration, that the CEQ exerted control of media relations in governmental scientific agencies and, during her tenure, had in fact edited Congressional testimony on the subject of the health hazards of climate change, and climate change's effect on hurricanes instead focusing solely on the health benefits of Climate Change.
The standing Deputy administrator of the EPA at the time, Jason K. Burnett has also confirmed that an official from Cheney's office edited out six pages from the testimony of Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last October. After the tenure of Mrs. Perino as chief environmental liaison to the White House but during her tenure in her current position as Press secretary.
During questioning on the subject in her Daily press briefings, Mrs. Perino has stated that there was nothing unusual about editing congressional testimony, and that it was in keeping with both the law and White House Policy. She has also denied claims of any censorship within her office.
[edit] Press Secretary
On March 31, 2006, President George W. Bush named Perino as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary. In the role, Perino communicated many times a day with President Bush's director of communications, his press secretary and his director of media affairs, filtering all environment-related media calls for the White House, as well as serving as the spokesperson for the White House on environmental issues. In addition, she served as the coordinator for all agencies on environment, energy and natural resource issues, as well as reviewing and approving the agencies' major announcements,
From March 27 to April 30, 2007 she was the Acting White House Press Secretary while Tony Snow underwent treatment for colon cancer.
On August 31, 2007, Bush announced that Snow would be resigning his post for health reasons and that Perino would become his replacement. Perino was accordingly promoted to the rank of Assistant to the President, and has served as White House Press Secretary since September 14, 2007.
[edit] Personal life
In 1997, Perino met her English husband Peter McMahon on a flight from Denver. Eleven months later they were married. Seven months after their first date she moved to Lytham St Annes, Lancashire England and lived in a flat overlooking the Irish Sea for a year. McMahon, whom Bush calls "The Englishman", is a sales and marketing director for medical products. McMahon, who is 18 years older, has two adult children from one of his two previous marriages, making Perino a step-grandmother of twins.[4]
[edit] References
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Tony Snow |
White House Press Secretary 2007 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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