Ron Klain

Former Chief of staff to Vice President Joseph R. Biden (January 2009-January 2011)

(Stan Honda/AFP)

Why He Matters

Klain's tenure as chief of staff to Vice President Joseph R. Biden was his second stint as chief of staff for a U.S. vice president. With the exception of the prolonged 2000 Florida recount fight, Klain has spent his entire professional career in Washington, both in and out of government. In 1994, Time magazine listed him as one of 50 lawyers under 40 to watch.

Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe called Klain "one of the most politically talented and intellectually powerful students I've ever had."

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Vice President and Senior Counsel at Revolution LLC (2005 to 2008); Partner at O'Melveny and Myers LLC (2000 to 2005); Counsel for Al Gore's legal team (2000)
Birthday: Aug. 8, 1961
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Alma Mater: Georgetown University, B.A., 1983; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1987

Spouse: Monica Medina
Email : N/A
Web site

Path to Power

Klain grew up in Indiana, did his undergraduate work at Georgetown University, interned for Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) and then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White for two years, then became the Senate Judiciary Committee's youngest-ever chief counsel at the age of 27.

Clinton Administration

He was Washington director of the 1992 Clinton-Gore presidential campaign, worked on the transition team after the election, then became an associate in the White House counsel's office. He helped shepherd Attorney General Janet Reno and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg through the Senate confirmation process, then became Reno's chief of staff at age 31. "Should a 31-year-old law school graduate like Ron Klain be in charge of judicial appointment evaluations?" Steven Trott, a former Justice Department official under President Ronald Reagan, asked in a debate with Reno. She said yes.

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The Issues

Klain is one of the Democratic Party's top legal scholars. During his time as an associate in the Clinton White House Counsel's office, Klain was charged with evaluating potential judicial appointees, from attorney general to Supreme Court justices. He worked with attorney general candidate Janet Reno during her Senate confirmation hearings, and with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg during her confirmation.

When Klain was chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he wrote most of the omnibus crime bill that was vetoed by President George H.W. Bush, and, working for the Clinton campaign, he suggested the future president's initiative to add 100,000 new police officers. Klain was a key player in the passage of President Clinton's new crime bill that included more police officers, and he used his contacts on Capitol Hill to help push the House to pass an assault- weapons ban.

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2000 Recount

Klain's role in Al Gore's presidential campaign grew dramatically in the weeks following the 2000 presidential election, when he traveled to Florida to head Gore's legal team during the recount.

The explosive recount endured for far longer than expected, and involved several courts and the Florida legislature. In an attempt to show that Gore could make up his 1,000-vote statewide deficit, Gore's campaign asked for recounts in a handful of jurisdictions, including heavily Democratic Broward and Palm Beach counties. Bush's campaign team accused Gore's lawyers of trying to block the counting of absentee ballots, which were believed to favor Bush. Klain's team filed a brief accusing Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (R) of a "Kafkaesque" approach because she tried to stop the hand-counting of ballots and then said she wouldn't include the hand-counting in the vote total.

The Gore team employed dozens of lawyers, but Klain was the go-to guy on all briefs for the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. "Ron is not the kind of person who gives an assignment and goes home. He has regularly and consistently exhausted himself," O'Melveny and Myers attorney Mark Steinberg said. "This moment is the greatest possible challenge for a talent like Ron. It's an opportunity to be at the center of history, and it calls on the skills that he has."

Gore was on the losing side of history when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of stopping the recount, effectively electing Bush. After the decision, Klain worked on a brief arguing that the high court's ruling contained a loophole that could be used to keep the recount going.

But Gore decided not to pursue that option and conceded instead. The saga was documented in HBO's 2008 docudrama "Recount" in which Klain was played by Kevin Spacey. "It's the story of a horrible defeat, from my perspective, and an unjust outcome," Klain said. "That said, I'm glad the story is being told because I think there are a lot of important lessons for our system and for the changes that we need to make."

The Network

Klain has worked closely with many of the most influential people in the Democratic Party. When he was chief of staff for Vice President Al Gore, John Podesta (who later headed President Barack Obama's transition team) was White House chief of staff and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), Obama's chief of staff, was a White House aide.

Klain also served as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee while Vice President Joseph R. Biden was serving on the committee, and the senator was extremely impressed with the expertise of the young Klain.

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Additional Resources

Kenneth P. Vogel, "Klain arrives with K Street roots," Politico.com, Nov. 14, 2008
Groppe, Maureen, "Hoosier portrayed in recount film; Attorney was Gore's chief advisor in 2000 presidential vote fight," May 25, 2008
Van Biema, David, "Tomorrow," Time Magazine, Dec. 5, 1994
Groppe, Maureen, "Speculation swirls about who will join Obama administration," Gannett News Service, Nov. 7, 2008
Shalit, Ruth, "The kids are alright," The New Republic, July 18, 1994
Slevin, Peter, "Fast-track lawyer faces biggest challenge in Fla. Whirlwind: Behind Scenes, Klain is Gore's Post-Election legal Maestro," The Washington Post, Dec. 11, 2000
Vogel, Kenneth P., "Klain arrives with K Street roots," Politico.com, Nov. 14, 2008
Balz, Dan, "Up by 930, Bush side assails Recount; Campaign calls hand tallies 'flawed' as absentee votes widen Governor's lead," The Washington Post, Nov. 19, 2000
Cooper, Helene C., The New York Times, "Ron Klain Leaving Vice President's Staff," January 4, 2011
Schneider, Mary Beth, "Top aide leaves Gore for simplest reason," The Indianapolis Star, Aug. 8, 1999
"A look back at the battle of 2000," Newsweek, May 26, 2008
Heath, Thomas, The Washington Post, Biden's Chief of Staff Resigns to Join Case Holdings, Jan. 4, 2010
Sweet, Lynn, "The Exit: When Gore called his lawyers, he said: 'That was some election night, wasn't it.'; Battle ends as legal brief is buried," The Chicago Sun-Times, Dec. 14, 2000
Press release, "Vice Pres. Announces Ronald Klain as chief of staff," Office of the Vice President, Oct. 20, 1995
Heath, Thomas, The Washington Post, "Ron Klain, Biden's chief of staff, resigns to join Case Holdings," January 4, 2011
Bazinet, Kenneth, "Top aide quits Gore campaign," New York Daily News, Aug. 4, 1999
"Top Gore aides head to Florida," Agence France Presse - English, Nov. 8, 2000