Vernon Jordan '57, Who Led Bill Clinton's Transition Team, Discusses the Road Ahead

November 5, 2008

November 5, 2008, Greencastle, Ind. - "A president should pick a White House chief of staff first," Vernon Jordan tells Bloomberg this morning. Jordan, who led Bill Clinton's presidential transition team in 1992 and is a 1957 graduate of DePauw University, is quoted in a story which examines the top priorities of a president-elect, hours after the election of Barack Obama.

Jordan adds, "The chief of staff needs to be involved in the selection of other people in the government; that's the quarterback."

He believes Obama's team needs to be a balance of political veterans and fresh faces, and should include some Republicans. "It has to be the old and new, the tried and true and geographically representative," says Jordan. "And it has to be educationally balanced -- they can't all come from Harvard or Ivy League schools."

Access the article at the Web site of the News-Press of Fort Myers, Florida. Jordan also appeared on ABC's The View today. Video can be accessed at YouTube.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a senior managing director of Lazard Frères & Co. LLC and senior counsel with the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He is former president of the National Urban League, advised Presidents Clinton and Carter, and served on the Iraq Study Group. He serves as an advisory member of DePauw's Board of Trustees and sits on the boards of American Express Co., Xerox Corp. and Howard University. Jordan holds honorary degrees from more than 60 colleges and universities, including one bestowed upon him by DePauw in 1973.

Monday marked the release of Vernon Jordan's new book, Make It Plain: Standing Up and Speaking Out, which was recently featured in Newsweek.

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