Scott McClellan

Scott McClellan resigned April 19, 2006, as President George W. Bush's White House Press Secretary "in an escalation of a Bush administration shake-up driven by Republican anxieties," Terence Hunt reported for the Associated Press.

In late May, 2008, news articles reported on Scott McClellan's memoir titled What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception  in which he writes that President Bush sold the Iraq war to Americans using a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" and "downplaying the major reason for going to war." McClellan, known during his time as press secretary as a staunch defender of Bush Administration policies and the war in Iraq, writes that Bush aides "had outlined a strategy for carefully orchestrating the coming campaign to aggressively sell the [Iraq] war ... it was all about manipulating sources of opinion to the president's advantage ..." McLellan also admits that he allowed himself to be deceived about the exposure of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and suggests that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby may have worked behind the scenes to coordinate their stories about the Plame leak. . On May 30, 2008, McClellan responded to attacks upon his book from current and former members of the Bush Administration. 

Background
McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer as White House Press Secretary in July 2003. His own replacement, announced by the White House on April 26, 2006, was Fox News talk show host Tony Snow.

McClellan served previously as Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary. "Before joining the White House staff, he was the traveling press secretary for the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign. Scott began working for Governor Bush in early 1999 as deputy communications director. Prior to joining the Governor's office, he served as chief of staff to a Texas state senator, worked on grassroots outreach for lawsuit reform in Texas and managed three successful statewide campaigns. Scott is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin," a biographical note states.

In September 1999, the Austin Chronicle noted that in 1998 McClellan had run the campaign of his mother, [Texas] Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander before moving to the press office of Governor George W. Bush. "Then, a few months ago, he left Bush's press office to work for the governor's presidential campaign." 

SourceWatch resources

 * Bush administration
 * Bush's White House Staff
 * Video news releases

Articles

 * "Naked City", Austin Chronicle, September 24, 1999.
 * Howard Kurtz, Low-Key Player. The New White House Press Secretary Is Primed and Ready for Caution, Washington Post, July 10, 2003.
 * Linda Feldmann, Scott McClellan: Cards to chest, voice to world. The press-secretary torch is passed - to a man who's been practicing since third grade, Christian Science Monitor, July 16, 2003.
 * Jim Rutenberg, Changing of a Bush Guard From Tiger to Teddy Bear New York Times, August 12, 2003.
 * Elisabeth Bumiller, A Spokesman Son, a Tell-All Dad, a Mum Mom, New York Times, September 14, 2003.
 * Helen Thomas President's new voice is less strident, Miami Herald, September 23, 2003.
 * Who's Who in the White House, Washington Post, updated February 16, 2004.
 * Michael Wolff, "Words Fail Him," Vanity Fair, April 4, 2006: "Now that the daily White House briefings are instantly available online, Press Secretary Scott McClellan's mangled sentences, flat-footed evasions, and genial befuddlement have made him the butt of a thousand blogs, as well as of an increasingly savage press corps. Is he a victim, a pawn, or a P.R. disaster?"
 * "Text: President Bush and Scott McClellan," Associated Press (San Francisco Chronicle), April 19, 2006.
 * Mike Allen, "Behind the White House Reshuffling. The President’s Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced that he would resign today, and more Cabinet changes are likely to follow," TIME, April 19, 2006.
 * Joe Strupp, "McClellan Departure Not 'Forced,' White House Scribes Say," Editor & Publisher, April 19, 2006.
 * Terence Hunt, "Rove Surrenders Some Control in Shake-Up," Associated Press, April 20, 2006.
 * Editorial: "More window dressing?" San Francisco Chronicle, April 20, 2006.
 * Adam Harvey, "Gaffes force shake-up," Herald Sun (Australia), April 21, 2006.
 * "West Wing wipe-out," The Daily Telegraph (Australia), April 21, 2006.
 * Geoff Elliott, "Rove latest casualty in Bush purge," The Australian, April 21, 2006.
 * John Holusha, Ex-Aide Responds to White House Criticism of Book, New York Times, May 30,2008.
 * Neil A. Lewis, "Former Bush Aide Testifies About C.I.A. Leak," New York Times, June 21, 2008.