NEW: Meet the 59-year old Indiana Hoosier-turned-Washington-insider who is favored for the job that's often considered the second-most powerful gig in the federal government. by @rbravender in @Politicsinsider ($) ow.ly/cAuM50Cg2DM
Ron Klain is the guy embattled Democrats want by their side. Clinton sent Klain over to DOJ back in 1994 to help out Janet Reno. Gore dispatched Klain to FLA during the 2000 recount effort. Obama hired him to be Ebola czar when panic over the virus gripped the United States.
Biden is widely expected to announce in the coming days that Klain will be his WH chief of staff starting on January 20. Even if Biden opts for someone else for the chief of staff role, Klain is expected to be one of his top White House advisers, Democratic sources tell Insider.
Biden and Klain go way back. Klain worked as chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee when Biden chaired the powerful panel. When Biden won the vice presidency in 2008, he quickly picked Klain again to be his White House chief of staff.
If Klain gets the White House job, he will serve as gatekeeper to the president, oversee about 4,000 political aides, and advise the commander-in-chief on just about every critical policy decision that's made.
It's not a job for the faint-hearted: Chiefs of staff typically burn out after a few years or get mashed up in the machinery of presidential politics. Donald Trump cycled through four of them in his single term; Obama went through five during his eight years in office.
"However you would characterize Joe Biden, you can probably characterize Ron Klain," said Jamie Gorelick, who worked with Klain at the Justice Department in the 1990s where she was deputy attorney general.
"He worked for Joe Biden at the outset of his career, and he's working for him now, and he's worked for him off and on for decades. And he is very much like the vice president," Gorelick added.
No one in Biden's orbit is surprised that the president-elect would be considering Klain for the high-powered but high-pressured job. "He has a great reputation. Smart as hell," said former Sen. Chris Dodd, a Biden ally who helped with the VP selection of Kamala Harris.
One thing going for Klain is that he has Biden's trust, which longtime politicos say is the most important attribute in a chief of staff. They point to Klain's unique ability to explain complicated subjects, stay calm in a crisis, & game out political problems before they arise.
"He's very calm. He's great in a crisis. He doesn't get hysterical," said Elaine Kamarck, who worked with Klain in the Clinton White House and on Gore's 2000 presidential campaign.
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