People in the news

Bob Bauer

Outgoing White House Counsel (December 2009 to June 2011)

(Linda Davidson/TWP)

Why He Matters

Bauer is one of the nation's pre-eminent experts on election and campaign finance law, and his views are enormously influential with Democrats.

When Gregory Craig resigned as White House counsel over criticism of his mangement of closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp, Bauer stepped in as the White House lawyer.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Personal lawyer to President Barack Obama , Democratic National Committee attorney (Jan. 2009 to Dec. 2009); Chair of the Political Law Group at Perkins Coie LLP (since 2007); General Counsel, Barack Obama 's 2008 Presidential Campaign (since 2007)
Birthday: Feb. 22
Alma Mater: Harvard University, 1973J.D., University of Virginia Law School, 1976
Spouse: Anita Dunn

Office: 607 Fourteenth Street N.W.Washington, D.C. 20005-2003 Phone: 202-434-1602
Email
Website

Path to Power

Bauer got a taste for politics when he worked as a volunteer for Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.) during his failed 1968 presidential run. In the summer of 1969, while he was still a student at the Phillips Exeter Academy prep school, Bauer dialed up Capitol Hill offices until he landed a summer job with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Bauer continued to work summer jobs on the Hill while he attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1973. He earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School in 1976 and landed a job in the Carter administration working on energy issues.

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Bauer then went to work in the private sector as an associate at Dechert, Price and Rhoads in Washington. His desire to work on behalf of the Democratic Party eventually led him to his permanent home at Perkins Coie.

Counsel to Presidential Candidates

Bauer served as an outside counsel to Tom Daschle during the 1998 Senate impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. He participated in daily strategy sessions with Democratic leaders and helped them craft responses to the legal arguments put forth by Republicans.

When Bill Bradley decided to run for the presidency in 2000, Bauer joined as his general counsel and sometimes took part in debate practice with the former senator.

Hoping to avoid the mistakes of Al Gore in 2000, Sen. John Kerry's (D-Mass.) presidential campaign mounted a nationwide legal offensive in 2004, headed by Bauer, to maximize voter turnout and ward off registration challenges.

While serving on Kerry's team, Bauer also provided legal assistance to America Coming Together, a massive Democratic-run 527 group that raised $143 million dollars in soft money for voter mobilization and election ads.

Next, Bauer became the lawyer for Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) who was running the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the time. As the 2008 presidential race rolled around, that led to a job with Emanuel's fellow Chicagoan, Barack Obama. (Emanuel became Obama's White House chief of staff).

Bauer reprised his role as election watchdog during the 2008 presidential campaign. As general counsel for then-Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) during the Democratic primaries, he challenged a $1 million independent ad campaign in Indiana launched by union groups supporting Obama's primary rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), arguing it was illegal.

Bauer drew some unwanted attention the Obama campaign in June 2007 when he penned a controversial Huffington Post piece arguing liberals should want President George W. Bush to pardon convicted former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Bauer was at the center of Obama's decision to forgo public financing in the general election. He claimed he met with Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) legal counsel, Trevor Potter, to discuss the issue and discovered they were not making a "good-faith effort" to establish a fair system.

The McCain campaign vigorously disputed Bauer's account of the meeting and said there were never any formal negotiations between the campaigns about public financing.

The Issues

In the West Wing, Bauer is known as a lawyer's lawyer. He's evanhanded, unbiased and always speaks on behalf of his boss, the president.

"Bob fits in the no-drama-Obama culture extremely well," said Ron Klain, chief of staff for Vice President Joe Biden.

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The Network

Bauer's legal team at Perkins Coie has worked on behalf of many leading lawmakers, including Tom Daschle, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), former House Speaker Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif).

Bauer is married to Democratic media consultant and White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, who was one of Obama's senior media advisers during the 2008 presidential campaign.

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Additional Resources