John Podesta
President and CEO, Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF)
JOHN PODESTA is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Podesta served as Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001. He served in the President’s Cabinet and as a Principal on the National Security Council. A frequent guest of Sunday morning news programs, Podesta is known for his straight talk, acerbic wit, and fierce defense of the Clinton Administration—where he also served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Assistant to the President, and Staff Secretary.
Podesta is currently a Visiting Professor of Law on the faculty of the Georgetown University Law Center. He has taught courses on technology policy, congressional investigations, legislation, copyright, and public interest law. Podesta is considered one of Washington’s leading experts in technology policy and has written a book, several articles, and lectured extensively in these areas.
Podesta has held a number of positions on Capitol Hill including: Counselor to Democratic Leader Senator Thomas A. Daschle; Chief Counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee; Chief Minority Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks; Security and Terrorism; and Regulatory Reform. In addition, in 1988, Podesta founded with his brother Tony, Podesta Associates, Inc., a Washington, D.C. government relations and public affairs firm.
A Chicago native, Podesta worked as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Honors Program in the Land and Natural Resources Division, and as a Special Assistant to the Director of ACTION, the federal volunteer agency. He has served as a member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, and the United States Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy.
Podesta is a 1976 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, and a 1971 graduate of Knox College.
