Danielle Gray is the former Assistant to the President, Cabinet Secretary, and a Senior Advisor to U.S. 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, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. Previously, Gray served as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and

Deputy Assistant to the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

for Economic Policy. Gray is currently executive vice president and global chief legal officer of Walgreen Boots Alliance.

Early life

A native of

Riverhead, New York Riverhead is a town within Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the north shore of Long Island. Since 1727, Riverhead has been the county seat of Suffolk County, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. As of the 2020 census, the ...

, Danielle Gray graduated from Duke University and in 2003 from Harvard Law School,'' Harvard Law Review''
"HLS alumni and faculty join ranks of new administration"
where she served as an editor of '' Harvard Law Review'' and was voted by her classmates "most likely to be a Supreme Court justice."

Career

Danielle Gray worked as a law clerk for Judge

Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since March 2021 as the 86th United States attorney general. He previously served as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of ...

on the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate co ...

. She also worked as a law clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court of the United States. Gray worked on the policy and research staff of then State Senator

's 2004 campaign for

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. She was also an early member of U.S. Senator Obama's campaign for President, working as Deputy National Policy Director for the Obama for America Presidential Campaign in 2007-2008.

Obama administration

After assisting with President

's transition to office, Gray was appointed as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel to the President in the

Office of White House Counsel The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...

. There she provided legal advice on key domestic and economic policy issues facing the administration. She also worked on judicial nominations, including the confirmations of

Justice Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...

and Justice Kagan. Gray later moved to the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, where she served as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. In this role she focused on constitutional challenges to federal statutes, policies, and agency actions and helped guide the legal strategy of the Obama Administration. Gray is also recognized as one of the lawyers who helped pass and ensure that the

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 ...

was upheld. Gray returned to the

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 ...

in early 2011 upon her appointment as Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. As Deputy to National Economic Council Director

Gene Sperling Eugene Benton Sperling (born December 24, 1958) is an American lawyer who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to s ...

, Gray oversaw and developed policies related to a range of economic issues facing the country. Gray remained in this role until January 2013, when she was appointed Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary, a position previously occupied by

Chris Lu Christopher P. Lu (; born June 12, 1966) is a Chinese American political advisor who serves as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for Management and Reform. He is also an alternative representative to the United Nations General Assembly d ...

. Recognized as a "rising superstar in the Obama administration" and "an instrumental force in driving the president's second term agenda," longtime White House advisor Gene Sperling says, "Danielle is the rare brand of intellectual powerhouse, policy strategist and doer's doer that will put her on the short-list for cabinet level jobs for Democratic presidents for the next four decades ..That's a guarantee, not a prediction." ''Newsweek'' called her "the most powerful

staffer you've never heard of." Gray left her post as Cabinet Secretary in January 2014.

Post-Obama administration

Following her time in the Obama administration, she became a partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP. She later worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, where she was senior vice president, chief legal and administrative officer and corporate secretary, overseeing operations related to legal, audit, government affairs, compliance, external communications, marketing and community in engagement, before joining Walgreens in August 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Danielle C. 1970s births Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women lawyers African-American lawyers African-American women lawyers Duke University alumni Executive Office of the President of the United States Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Obama administration personnel People from Riverhead (town), New York Women in Illinois politics