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."
Klain was the youngest chief counselor on the Senate Judiciary Committee at age 27, was chief of staff to the attorney general at 31, and moved into the White House to be Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff at age 34. After Klain left Capitol Hill for the Clinton White House, then-Sen. Biden (D-Del.) said he would be happy to see Klain on the U.S. Supreme Court someday. After Biden was elected vice president, he tapped Klain to be his chief of staff. Klain had been out of government since 2000, working as an attorney and lobbyist for the D.C. law firm O'Melveny and Myers.
In January 2011, Klain announced he would leave Biden's office at the end of that month after serving during the first two years of the Obama administration.
He announced he would become president of Case Holdings, a holding company for the business and philanthropic interests of former AOL chairman Steve Case.
Klain is probably best known outside Washington for his work during the 2000 presidential election. After the polls closed, Texas Gov. George W. Bush was leading Gore by 1,000 votes in the critical state of Florida. Klain led the Gore team in demanding a recount in some strong Democratic counties and had cut Bush's margin down to about 200 votes before the recount was stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Klain's role in this drama was immortalized in the 2008 HBO movie "Recount," in which Kevin Spacey portrayed him as the hard-charging lawyer. After the movie was released, Klain told Newsweek that "it's definitely painful to watch."
In January 2011, Klain announced he would leave Biden's office to become president of Case Holdings, the holding company for the business and philanthropic interests of former AOL chairman Steve Case.
He was replaced by former Clinton domestic policy adviser and Democratic Leadership Council Chairman Bruce Reed.
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