Joseph Patrick "Joe" Lockhart is a spokesman and communications consultant, best known for being the nineteenth White House Press Secretary from October 5, 1998 to September 29, 2000, during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton. Previously, he had worked as press secretary for several Democratic politicians, including Walter Mondale, Paul Simon, and Michael Dukakis. Following his work as press secretary in the Clinton administration, he was an advisor to John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign. He subsequently founded and became managing director of the communications consulting firm Glover Park Group, worked for Facebook from 2011 to 2012, and was executive vice president of communications and public affairs for the NFL from 2016 to 2018.
Early life and career
Born in The Bronx, Lockhart is the son of Raymond Lockhart, a longtime NBC producer associated with the Huntley-Brinkley Report and special-events coverage. He grew up in Suffern, New York. In 1978 he moved to Washington D.C. to attend Georgetown University where he received a BA in History. In 1980, he worked on Jimmy Carter's presidential reelection campaign. He was press secretary for the 1984 presidential campaign of Walter Mondale, then worked for Paul Simon in the Senate. Stints with ABC and CNN followed, then the Michael Dukakis campaign. He moved to Robinson, Lake, Lerer & Montgomery with Mike McCurry, then back to ABC when they hired his wife and colleague from the Mondale campaign Laura Logan. Another gig with NBC covering the Romanian Revolution of 1989 preceded his first on-air job with Sky News reporting on the Gulf War and then business. Private practice with Robinson, Lake followed, where he handled publicity for the Al Nahayan family during parts of the BCCI scandal.
At a time when Lockhart was considering working for AOL, Mike McCurry recruited Lockhart back into politics, and he joined the 1996 Clinton re-election campaign. He served as the campaign spokesman and, following President Clinton's successful reelection, as Deputy Press Secretary to McCurry. After standing in for him on occasion to brief the press, Lockhart eventually succeeded McCurry and delivered his first briefing as Press Secretary on October 5, 1998. Lockhart handled the press during Clinton's impeachment and the 2000 Camp David Summit.
After the White House
Lockhart was brought on to the John Kerry presidential campaign as a senior advisor in September 2004. On September 8, 2004, CBS News aired a controversial report on presidential candidate George W. Bush's military record. The authenticity of the Killian documents used in that report are under scrutiny. In the course of the next few days, it was discovered that Joseph Lockhart, then senior advisor to presidential candidate John Kerry, had made a phone call to Texas National Guard officer, Bill Burkett on September 4, 2004. Lockhart stated later that an unnamed female CBS producer asked him to contact Burkett. Lockhart has denied that the call with Burkett had anything to do with the National Guard issue. Lockhart co-founded the consulting firm Glover Park Group, becoming its Managing Director. In June 2011, he joined Facebook as the head of the company's corporate, policy and international communications team. Not wanting to relocate to the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, he left the company in October 2012. On February 15, 2016, Lockhart was introduced as the new executive vice president of communications and top public relations official for the National Football League; he left the job after the 2018 Super Bowl to spend time with his family.
Personal life
Lockhart was previously married to Laura Logan, Deputy Press Secretary for John Glenn's 1984 presidential run and a longtime ABC News producer. In 2013, Lockhart married Giovanna Gray. In 2016, it was announced that President Obama and his family planned to rent Lockhart's Kalorama home after he left office. It was later revealed that the Obamas purchased the house from the Lockharts in May 2017, saying that it made sense to own the property since they would remain in Washington for at least another two years.
