White House Staff

Dana Power
Assistant to the President for Communications

Dennis Athey
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff

Dan O'Sullivan
Deputy Chief of Staff, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President

Mary Nemeth
Assistant to the President for Speechwriting and Policy Advisor

Ed Petzold
Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff

Drew O'Brien
Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary

Judith Kanheman
Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary

Karen Lawn
Assistant to the President and White House Counsel

Marcia Mandi
Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs

Colleen Ryan
Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady

Sonny Yocius
Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary

Helen Doster
Deputy Assistant to the President for Communications

Eric Corbin
Deputy Assistant to the President, Assistant to the Vice President

Chris Varga
Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs

Matt Flaig
Assistant to the Vice President and Chief of Staff

Salvatore Lawless
Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel

Brett Newbanks
Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy

Tom Wadsworth
Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison

Background Sheets
Gameplay and Theory
Who's Who
Overview
Details
Political Background
Legal Background

Links
The West Wing
The Real Whitehouse

Executive Office of the President (EOP) Position Descriptions

Office of the Chief of Staff (OCS)
The Office of the Chief of Staff is the central coordinating office of the Executive Office of the President. The Chief of Staff oversees the coordination of all White House Operations, works with the Cabinet on Domestic Affairs, and controls access to the President.

Dennis Athey - Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff (OCS)
The gatekeeper, and theoretically the man closest to the president. Athey has tremendous control over the President's time, but is a rival with O'Sullivan for his policy interests. Athey is more concerned with the day to day running of the Government than the President's popularity and electoral position. Athey is more concerned with the Cabinet than Congress

Ed Petzold - Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff (OCS)
The Deputy Chief of Staff is one of two individuals who fly with the President, and work with his day to day schedule. Petzold was with President Kent on the disputed trip. He has the closest knowledge of the President's personal life and personal concerns.

Drew O'Brien - Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Office of the Chief of Staff (OCS)
Though technically attached to the OCS, O'Brien is really more of a referee. The Staff Secretary keeps meetings on track and maintain focus.

Richard Weingartner - Assistant to the President and Depty Staff Secretary - (OCS)
This is a GM role functioning as timekeeper for the game. Weingartner is a fairly junior staffer, and is mostly an assistant to O'Brien.

Office of the White House Counsel
The White House Legal Counsel provides legal advice to the Office of the White House, much as a Corporate Lawyer would to a Company. However, the OLC are public employees, not the personal counsel of the President. They could not defend the President against criminal or civil charges, though they could advise him on what actions would be criminal or actionable in the course of his work. They are also able to offer qualified opinions as to whether or not a given thing constitutes a legal issue

Karen Lawn - Assistant to the President and White House Counsel - (OLC)
. Lawn was formerly with Whitfoot, Benjamin, and Black, LLC.

Salvatore Lawless - Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel - (OLC). Lawless was formerly a Prosecutor for the City of New York, and is an intimate of the VPOTUS.

Office of Legislative Affairs
The Office of Legislative Affairs is responsible for overseeing the progress of the President's Agenda in the political arena.

Marcia Mandi - Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs - (OLA)
Mandi is a personal friend of Senator DiGiardino, and acts as liaison to Congress. She moved from OFL after personality problems with the FLOTUS.

Chris Varga - Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs - (OLA)
Varga oversees relations with the Cabinet and coordinates Legislative initiatives with the EOVP.

Executive Office of the Vice President (OVP)
The EOVP is modeled on the Office of the President, and contains a working staff that oversees the work and communications issues of the Vice President. Typically the POTUS and VPOTUS work in close coordination, but pursuing different areas of priority. Typically because of the role of the VPOTUS as the President of the Senate, the EOVP assists with Congressional relations.

Matt Flaig - Assistant to the Vice President and Chief of Staff - (OVP)
Flaig is a close friend of Dennis Athey, the Chief of Staff, and often acts as liaison between the EOVP and the EOP.

Eric Corbin - Deputy Assistant to the President, Deputy Director of Presidential Speechwriting and Assistant to the Vice President - (OVP)
Corbin originally worked in OOC but had serious trouble over a PAFTA speech drafted for the President. He was eventually moved to the Office of the Vice Presdient and is seen as a close friend of the VPOTUS.

Office for Strategic Initiatives
The OSI is a thinly veiled publicly funded think tank, mostly concerned with doing things to make the President popular. Effectively it serves as a publicly funded re-election committee. The OSI looks at every issue not from the standpoint of "good or bad" but from the standpoint of "how will this hurt or help the President and the Party." O'Sullivan formerly maintained the direct mail consulting and polling firm O'Sullivan Consulting in Chicago. O'Sullivan is more concerned with Congress than the Cabinet.

Dan O'Sullivan - Deputy Chief of Staff, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President - OSI
Holding a position similar to that of Karl Rove in the previous administration, O'Sullivan often trumps the Chief of Staff. He was previously the owner of O'Sullivan Consuling LLC, which was the primary communications arm of the Kent Campaign.

Brett Newbanks - Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy - OSI
Responsible for vetting any action or legislation based on whether or not it will make the President popular.

Tom Wadsworth - Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison - OSI
Responsible for finding out on a day to day basis how popular the President is, who likes him, and why. He has significant contacts in the Private sector. Wadsworth came from O'Sullivan Consulting LLC.

Office of Communications (OOC)
The Office of Communications is responsible for producing the content of the Communications that come from the President. The OOC does not set policy initiatives, but rather determines how the initiatives proposed by the Legislative Affairs, etc., are communicated effectively to the public. The Communications Office is concerned with the President's speeches, exact words, etc., and setting the overall tone for communications

Dana Power - Assistant to the President for Communications - (OOC)
The Communications Director takes the lead on making decisions about the general tangent of communications.

Mary Nemeth - Assistant to the President for Speechwriting and Policy Advisor - (OOC)
Is responsible for the President's exact words, and talking points. She has the best grasp of what kind of communicator the President is and what he will and will not communicate well.

Helen Doster - Deputy Assistant to the President for Communications - (OOC)
Is responsible for assessing the overall strategy and approaches of the OOC. She was previously employed by O'Sullivan Consulting and works closely with the Office for Strategic Initiatives.

Office of the Press Secretary
Is responsible for carrying out the Communications of the Whitehouse in regards to the Press. While the Office of Communications establishes the tone and content of Communications, the Office of the Press Secretary actually carries out much of the day to day Communication on behalf of the Whitehouse. The Office of the Press Secretary is less about long-range policy and more about what we are going to say tomorrow.

Judith Kanheman - Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary - (OPS)
Is responsible for carrying out the Communications of the Whitehouse in regards to the Press.

Sonny Yocius - Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary - (OPS)
Is the "Spin Control" expert for the Campaign. She periodically clashes with Doster, not having come out of O'Sullivan Consulting, LLC.

Office of the First Lady (OFL)
The activities of the First Lady are important to the Administration. The First Lady supports high profile public image work which supports the work of the OSI.

Colleen Ryan - Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady - (OFL)
Colleen is known to be a close friend to the FLOTUS. The First Lady dismissed her original Deputy Assistant, and is very distant from her Assistant. Marcia Mandi also served as Deputy Assistant, and moved to Legislative Affairs.

Non-Federal Employees

David L. Ginzburg, Senior Partner, Kirtland & Lewis, LLP - Personal Counsel to James Kent