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Peter Wehner  

Pete Wehner had one of the rarest and most interesting jobs in America

Pete Wehner had one of the rarest and most interesting jobs in America: he ran what The Washington Post called “his own White House think tank,” where he offered his counsel on a wide range of domestic and national security issues.As Director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI), Pete Wehner earned a reputation as an exceptionalcommunicator, strategic thinker, and writer. A genuine innovator in political communications, Mr. Wehner was a key White House aide during some of the most important and memorable events in recent history. A savvy political thinker, Mr. Wehner also played an important

role in the 2004 campaign and the re-election of George W. Bush.

A respected voice, he writes widely on political, cultural, religious, and national-security issues. He has been interviewed on television and radio and has given speeches on a wide range of subjects.Mr. Wehner served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations prior to becoming deputy director of speechwriting for President George W. Bush in 2001. In 2002, he was asked to head the Office of Strategic Initiatives, where he generated policy ideas, organized meetings with public intellectuals,published articles, and provided counsel on both policy and politics.

Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Wehner was executive director for policy for Empower America, a public-policy organization. Mr. Wehner also served as a special assistant to the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and, before that, as a speechwriter for then-Secretary of Education Bill Bennett.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Mr. Wehner grew up in Washington State and is a graduate of the University of Washington. He and his wife Cindy have three children and live in McLean, Virginia.

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