Blake Gottesman

Blake Gottesman (born 1980) was a former aide to the president and currently the deputy chief of staff for President George W. Bush. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080716/pl_politico/11792;_ylt=Aqc4BO2.Gv.02bzeS1SDSciyFz4D Bush’s personal aide returns at top - Yahoo! News ] ] In this role, he is youngest member of the Bush senior staff. He previously served in the Bush administration as personal aide and body man for the president from 2001 until 2006. His work for Bush began during Bush's presidential campaign in 1999.

Gottesman is Jewish. [Jewish Journal (2008). [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=11572 Q & A With Ari Fleischer] . Retrieved April 30, 2008.] His father is Sanford L. Gottesman, president of The Gottesman Company, a real estate development company based in Austin, Texas, and board member of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. [OPIC (2008). [http://www.opic.gov/about/board/bio_gottesman.asp Sanford L. Gottesman] . Retrieved April 30, 2008.]

Gottesman was educated at St. Andrews Episcopal School and Stephen F. Austin High School, both in Austin, Texas; during this time he dated Jenna Bush when the President was Governor of Texas. Gottesman attended Claremont McKenna College for one year.

He worked as a junior aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card at the beginning of Bush's presidential term and became Bush's full-time personal aide in February 2002. Gottesman was responsible for managing the President's day-to-day activities and traveled with Bush to functions and on overseas trips. In a 2006 "Time" article on Gottesman, he was said to understand Bush's moods and tendencies better than most of his other advisors, leading many to have discussions with him on issues before presenting them to the President. [cite news | last=Allen | first=Mike | title=Who Knows Bush's Mind Best? | date=19 June 2006 | publisher=Time | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1202932,00.html?internalid=AOT_h_06-11-2006_who_knows_bush] When compared to fictional presidential aide Charlie Young in television series "The West Wing", Gottesman stated, "Our jobs are probably pretty similar." [White House (2005). [http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20040810.html Blake Gottesman hosts Ask the White House] .]

Though he initially said he had plans to finish college and then attend business school after finishing his work at the White House, Gottesman did not return to college and instead enrolled in Harvard Business School, graduating in 2008. [cite news | last=Bhayani | first=Paras D. | title=Bush’s Personal Aide To Enroll at Business School | date=22 May 2006 | publisher=The Harvard Crimson | url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513563] His admission to the school despite not having received an undergraduate degree was criticized by some media commentators. [Economist.com (2006). [http://www.economist.com/business/globalexecutive/education/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6906404 News from the schools] . Retrieved June 6 2006.]

References

Further reading

*Elisabeth Bumiller (May 30, 2005). " [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/politics/30letter.html? From Jenna's Ex to a Presidential Jeeves] ". "The New York Times" (registration required).