Bill Burton (political consultant)


Bill Burton is an American political consultant and communication strategist who served as Deputy White House Press Secretary in the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2011.

Early life and Education

Burton was born in Buffalo, New York on August 9, 1977. He was raised by a single father, Troy Burton, from the age of 11. Burton graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature. Burton is biracial.

Career

Burton worked as a press secretary for Bill Luther. He was press secretary for Tom Harkin from 2001 to 2003, and communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 2006 election cycle. He has worked on the campaign of Richard Gephardt, John Kerry, and Barack Obama. Burton signed on with candidate Sen. John F. Kerry after Gephardt dropped out of the presidential race of 2004. Kerry lost the White House to incumbent George W. Bush after winning the Democratic nomination. In 2007, Burton joined the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, where he worked as national press secretary.
During the Obama administration, Burton served as Deputy White House Press Secretary under Robert Gibbs from December 2009 until February 2011. He was also a Junior Deputy Press Secretary from January 2009 to December 2009 until Jen Psaki was promoted to Deputy White House Communications Director. In the role, Burton served as an adviser to the president and was tasked with briefing reporters. Burton also frequently traveled with the president on domestic and international visits.
Burton left the White House in February 2011 to launch a consulting firm with White House adviser Sean Sweeney after a competition for Gibbs' job, which was eventually given to Jay Carney.
He was a co-founder and senior strategist with the Priorities USA Action super PAC. In January 2013, Burton was hired by Global Strategy Group, a Public Relations firm based in New York City.
Burton is currently the Managing Director of SKDKnickerbocker's California office in Los Angeles.

Howard Schultz's possible 2020 run

On January 28, 2019, it was reported that Burton, along with Steve Schmidt, had been hired to help manage a potential presidential run by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Burton briefly left SKDKnickerbocker to join his team as communications adviser. In September 2019, Schultz officially announced that he would not run in 2020, citing health concerns.

Personal life

In 2007, he married Laura Capps, daughter of former California congresswoman Lois Capps. They have one son, Oscar, and lived in Santa Barbara, California before divorcing.
Burton married Kelly Burton on April 6, 2019.