Anita Decker Breckenridge (born July 19, 1978) is an American political staffer who served in a number of positions in the administration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 ...

. She was appointed White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations in March 2014, a position she took up in May 2014. In January 2017, Breckenridge was named Chief of Staff for Barack Obama's post-presidency office. Her portfolio includes the Obama Foundation and Obama presidential library. She also oversees the presidential records process.

Early life

Breckenridge was born and spent her early years in

Kenilworth, Illinois Kenilworth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, north of downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 2,514. It is the newest of the nine suburban North Shore communities bordering Lake Michigan, and is one o ...

. She graduated from

New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school, with its main campus for sophomores through seniors located in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, and a campus in Northfield, Illino ...

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the secon ...

in 1996; while at high school she was an intern for US Senator

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate De ...

. She studied political science at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

, graduating in 2000.

Career

She worked for Representative

Lane Evans Lane Allen Evans (August 4, 1951 – November 5, 2014) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until 2007, representing the 17th District of Illinois. Ev ...

, and in 2003 moved to work for Obama, who was then a member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

. She ran all of Obama's

Downstate Illinois Downstate Illinois refers to the part of the U.S. state of Illinois south of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is in the northeast corner of the state and has been dominant in American history, politics, and culture. It is defined as the pa ...

offices when he was US Senator for the state, and managed the 2007 announcement of his candidacy for President. After his election she served as Chief of Staff at the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

until May 2011, when she became

personal secretary ''Personal Secretary'' is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Otis Garrett and written by Betty Laidlaw, Robert Lively and Charles Grayson. The film stars William Gargan, Joy Hodges, Andy Devine, Ruth Donnelly, Samuel S. Hinds and France ...

to the President, taking over from Katie Johnson. In March 2014 the White House announced she would become Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, replacing Alyssa Mastromonaco.

Personal life

She married political consultant Russell Breckenridge in 2010.

References

, - 1970s births Illinois Democrats Living people New Trier High School alumni Obama administration personnel People from Kenilworth, Illinois University of Arizona alumni White House Deputy Chiefs of Staff Women government officials {{US-gov-bio-stub