Ron Klain & Mike Murphy

Ron Klain's Biography

Ron Klain was the longest serving first Chief of Staff for any Democratic President.  As Chief of Staff, Mr. Klain oversaw the Biden-Harris White House staff and served as a member of the Cabinet.  Upon stepping down from the post, President Biden called Ron Klain “a once-in-a-generation talent with fierce intellect and heart,” and historian Chris Whipple said that Mr. Klain was “same tier” as the “most highly regarded Chiefs of Staff ever.”  Mr. Klain was praised by observers ranging from Hillary Clinton (who called him “one of the most effective White House Chiefs of Staff in history”) to Karl Rove (who said Klain was “a consequential chief of staff”) to Al Gore (who dubbed Klain “an all-time great Chief of Staff”) citing his bipartisan legislative achievements, a historic focus on judicial nominations, and guiding the White House to an unexpected victory in the midterm elections.  A frequent guest on TV news shows, Mr. Klain was a well-known spokesperson for the administration.  Mr. Klain was selected for the TIME 100 list of global leaders while serving as Chief of Staff.

Prior to assuming his White House post, Ron Klain held senior posts in private law practice.  He spent more than a decade as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Revolution LLC, an investment firm launched by AOL Co-Founder Steve Case in 2005.  Mr. Klain guided the firm’s legal department from its founding; at the time he left, Revolution managed over $2 billion in assets invested in over 200 portfolio companies.  Earlier, Mr. Klain spent four years as a Partner and National Practice Group Chair at O'Melveny & Myers LLP, where his practice focused on constitutional and commercial litigation, competition-related litigation in the technology sector, and corporate transactions.

In addition to his private law practice, Mr. Klain has devoted many years to public service. He served as Coordinator of the US Ebola response in 2014-15; President Obama said that Klain had taken on “a challenge that many called insurmountable, and, in leading the team responsible for tremendous progress, helped remind the world what makes America exceptional.”  Earlier, Mr. Klain served as a senior White House aide to President Obama responsible for implementing the Recovery Act, and Chief of Staff to Vice President Joe Biden. He has also served as Chief of Staff for Vice President Al Gore, Chief of Staff and Counselor to Attorney General Janet Reno, Staff Director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committee, and Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Klain was also Associate Counsel to President Clinton in charge of judicial selection. Through his work on the Judiciary Committee, and in the Executive Branch, he has played a role in the selection or confirmation of nine Supreme Court Justices.  Klain began his legal career as a law clerk to Justice Byron White, for the Supreme Court’s 1987 and 1988 Terms.

Mr. Klain gained national notice as General Counsel for the Gore Recount Committee in 2000, in recognition of which he was selected as one of National Law Journal's "Lawyers of the Year," and featured in HBO's film "RECOUNT." He has worked on eight Presidential campaigns, serving as a top debate preparation advisor to Presidents Biden, Obama and Clinton, and Democratic Presidential nominees Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Klain’s previous civic affiliations include service as a member of the Board of Visitors of Harvard Law School and a Board Member of the American Progress Action Fund, the American Constitution Society, the Executive Council of TechNet, the Democracy Forward Foundation, and a member of the external advisory boards of the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Security project and the Ending Pandemics Project. President Obama appointed him to the Governing Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States. He was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post.

Ron Klain graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he as an Editor of the Harvard Law Review, and won the Sears Prize for highest grade average in 1985.  In recent years, he has served as a Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law, teaching a course on Political Law.  He was a summa cum laude graduate of Georgetown University, where he also served an Adjunct Professor from 2014-2019. He is married to Monica Medina, the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Internal Environmental Affairs and Science, and the first-ever U.S. Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources.  They have three grown children.

Mike Murphy's Biography

Mike Murphy is one of the Republican Party’s most successful political media consultants, having handled strategy and advertising for more than 26 successful gubernatorial and Senatorial campaigns, including 12 wins in “blue” states that have consistently voted Democratic in Presidential elections. He served as a top campaign advisor to John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with dozens of other GOP Senators, Governors and Members of Congress. Murphy has worked on five GOP Presidential campaigns and for foreign leaders in Europe and Latin America. He also advises several Fortune 500 corporations, as well as several Hedge Funds and Trade Associations. In 2020 he served as a key strategist for Republican Voters Against Trump.

Murphy is also a widely quoted pundit; he is a longtime top analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and he co-hosts the popular podcast Hacks on Tap. In the Hacks on Tap newsletter, Murphy and Robert Gibbs share insights you'll only get from folks who have spent a lifetime in the political trenches of both parties. He’s written columns and op-ed pieces for TIME, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Bulwark. Visit Murphy's website to read his commentary >>

Murphy is currently co-director the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future.  He serves on the boards of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. He served as a longtime senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; focusing on the intersection of domestic politics and national security decision making. Murphy also works as a writer and producer in the entertainment industry with projects at HBO, CBS, and 20th Century Fox Studios.

Murphy was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He lives with his wife Tiffany and daughter Audrey in Los Angeles.