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Stephanie Cutter (born October 22, 1968) is an American
political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...
. She served as an advisor to President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
during his first presidential term, and was deputy
campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vo ...
for his 2012 re-election campaign. She previously worked in campaign and communications roles for other prominent Democrats including
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
,
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
, and
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described her as "a popular but polarizing face of (Obama's) campaign", and a "soldier who says the things the candidate can’t (or won’t) say." After 2012, she founded Precision Strategies, a political consulting firm, with fellow Obama campaign alumni
Jen O'Malley Dillon Jennifer Brigid O'Malley Dillon (born September 28, 1976) is an American political strategist and campaign manager serving as the White House deputy chief of staff under President Joe Biden. She was the manager of Biden's 2020 presidential campa ...
and Teddy Goff. During the 2020 election, she was producer of the all-virtual
Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...
, and following Joe Biden's victory, she was tapped to act as producer of the 2021 inauguration, which included mostly virtual festivities.


Early life and education

Cutter was born in
Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. At the 2020 cen ...
, and was raised in nearby Raynham, Massachusetts. She graduated from
Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School Bridgewater Raynham Regional High School, founded in 1961, is a regional high school in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, shared by the City of Bridgewater and the Town of Raynham. The high school, commonly referred to as B-R, relocated to a new building ...
in 1986. Her mother, Grace, is a school teacher, and her brother served in Afghanistan. She received a B.A. degree from
Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...
and a J.D. degree from
Georgetown Law School The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and t ...
.


Career

Cutter began her career working as a junior aide to
New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...
Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...
prior to joining
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
's 1992 election campaign. She worked for the
Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...
and the Clinton administration, eventually becoming
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
deputy
communications director Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...
. Cutter worked to repair Clinton's image following his
impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
. Beginning in 2001, she served as Communications Director for Senator
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
. In November 2003, she was named communications director for the
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
campaign, at Kennedy's recommendation. During that campaign, she was criticized for having a surly and difficult personality and was often scapegoated for Kerry's loss. Kerry considered the criticism of her unfair and praised her work. After the Kerry campaign, Cutter returned to work for Kennedy. Cutter joined
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
's first presidential campaign in 2008 as a senior advisor to Barack Obama and as the
chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
to
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
. Cutter has been credited with helping the campaign receive an endorsement from Kennedy and improving Michelle Obama's public reputation during the campaign. Cutter became a trusted aide to both Obamas and in 2009 was named one of the "50 Most Powerful People in D.C." by '' GQ''. She served as the Chief Spokesperson for the
Obama-Biden Transition Project The 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama began on February 10, 2007, when Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a ...
. She served in the Treasury Department as
Timothy Geithner Timothy Franz Geithner (; born August 18, 1961) is a former American central banker who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. He was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank ...
's counselor where "she protected Geithner’s fragile reputation and tried to spin unpopular policies like the
Troubled Asset Relief Program The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President ...
and the A.I.G. bailout." In May 2009, Cutter was appointed to serve as adviser to President Obama in the Supreme Court nominations. Later that year, '' GQ'' Magazine named Cutter one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington. In 2010, Cutter was named Assistant to the President for Special Projects, charged with managing communications and outreach strategy for the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
. In 2011, Cutter was named Deputy Senior Advisor to President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
. In September 2011, the White House announced Cutter would leave her position as Deputy Senior Advisor to serve as deputy campaign manager for Obama for America. She has appeared in numerous campaign videos and ads for Obama's campaign, as well as a guest in TV appearances. During the 2012 campaign,
Steve Schmidt Stephen Edward Schmidt (born September 28, 1970) is an American communications and public affairs strategist who worked on Republican political campaigns, including those of President George W. Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
, a Republican strategist, stated that Cutter is "arguably the strongest player on either side out there now."
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
announced on June 26, 2013, that Cutter will join a new version of ''
Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. S ...
'' re-launching in the fall of 2013, with panelists
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U. ...
,
S. E. Cupp Sarah Elizabeth Cupp (born February 23, 1979) is an American television host, political commentator, and writer. In August 2017, she began hosting ''S.E. Cupp: Unfiltered,'' a political panel show, co-hosted by Andrew Levy, on HLN and later CNN ...
, and
Van Jones Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and c ...
. Besides her role at CNN Cutter founded Precision Strategies, where she is a partner. Precision Strategies is a strategic consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. and
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Cutter started the firm with three veterans that worked for the Obama 2012 campaign team. Cutter informed CNN staffers on October 7, 2013, that she was pregnant with her first child. With a due date of early March 2014, she informed the network she would return to ''Crossfire'' after maternity leave. She remained with the series until it ended in July of that year. Cutter served as the Program Executive for the
2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
. Cutter co-founded Precision Strategies with Jennifer O'Malley Dillon and Teddy Goff in 2013. The consulting firm reportedly worked with a variety of political and private clients, including
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...
,
March for Our Lives March for Our Lives (MFOL) was a student-led demonstration in support of gun control legislation. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the United States and around the world, and wa ...
, and
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...
. Cutter was the Chief Program Executive for the
2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
, held for the first time as a virtual event rather than an in-person gathering due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The following year, Cutter and
Ricky Kirshner Ricky Kirshner is an Emmy-winning television producer. Kirshner has won nine Emmy Awards out of 26 nominations. Early life Kirshner was born the son of media mogul Don Kirshner. Career Kirshner partnered with Glenn Weiss to create White Cherry E ...
served as
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...
s of President Joe Biden's
inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
. Part of the inauguration, '' Celebrating America'', earned Cutter and Kirshner a nomination for the Outstanding Live Variety Special award at the
73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2020, until May 31, 2021, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ...
.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cutter, Stephanie 1968 births American political consultants American women lawyers Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign CNN people Georgetown University Law Center alumni Living people Massachusetts Democrats People from Taunton, Massachusetts Smith College alumni Women in Massachusetts politics People from Raynham, Massachusetts 21st-century American women