Dan Pfeiffer

Dan Pfeiffer, born Howard Daniel Pfeiffer on December 24, 1975, in Wilmington, Delaware, has established a significant career in American politics and media. He pursued his higher education at Georgetown University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. His early career in politics began with a role as a spokesman for Community Oriented Policing Services during the Clinton administration. In 2000, he joined the communications team for the Al Gore presidential campaign. Following this, Pfeiffer worked for the Democratic Governors Association and later served under Senators Tim Johnson, Tom Daschle, and Evan Bayh, gaining experience in various legislative communication capacities.

Pfeiffer’s career saw significant progression when he joined Barack Obama’s presidential campaign as the Traveling Press Secretary, later becoming the Communications Director for the campaign. After the 2008 election, he managed the communications office for the Obama–Biden Transition team. In January 2009, he was appointed Deputy White House Communications Director, and by December 2009, he advanced to White House Communications Director. He held this position through President Obama’s first term. In 2013, at the start of Obama’s second term, Pfeiffer was promoted to Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for strategy and communications, taking on responsibilities previously held by David Axelrod and David Plouffe. He concluded his tenure at the White House on March 6, 2015.

Post-White House, Pfeiffer continued his engagement in public discourse. He joined CNN as a political contributor in 2015. He also served as Vice President for Communications and Policy at GoFundMe from December 2015 to September 2017. Pfeiffer co-hosts the political podcast “Pod Save America” and has authored three books: “Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump” (2018), “Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again” (2020), and “Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America” (2022). His writing and commentary focus on contemporary political strategy, media, and the challenges facing American democracy.