LAWRENCE J. HAAS

Lawrence J. Haas, a former White House communications strategist and award-winning journalist, is now Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the American Foreign Policy Council, a member of the Committee on the Present Danger, and a public affairs consultant.  He writes widely on foreign and domestic affairs, is quoted often in newspapers and magazines, and appears frequently on TV and radio.

Public Commentary

Haas comments frequently on public issues.  He writes a weekly column on domestic policy for The Fiscal Times, an on-line newspaper; a foreign affairs column every month or so for the McClatchy-Tribune News Service; and a quarterly “Letter from Washington” for the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based foreign policy organization.  His op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune, Sacramento Bee, and scores of other newspapers.  He has written articles for The Journal of International Security Affairs, DEMOCRATIYA, inFOCUS, Tax Notes, and other magazines.

Haas has appeared on FOX, CNN, CNBC, C-SPAN, Voice of America, Al Hurra, NPR, the BBC, and many local TV and radio shows; spoken before hundreds of trade groups; served as a guest lecturer at the Government Affairs Institute and Legislative Studies Institute; and spoken at Yale University, Pennsylvania State University, George Washington University, and the University of Rhode Island.  He is a commentator on “MarketPlace,” a business radio show that airs on nearly 400 stations across the country.  He created and wrote “Public Affairs Perspective,” an on-line column for Manning Selvage & Lee, the global public relations firm where he worked.

Haas has written three books and ghostwritten others.  His 1990 book, Running on Empty: Bush, Congress and the Politics of a Bankrupt Government, chronicled policy-making during the elder President Bush’s first year in office.  He then wrote two editions of The Washington Almanac (1992 and 1993), describing the key policy debates and policy-makers in Washington.  Haas helped to ghost-write From Red Tape to Results, Vice President Gore’s report on reinventing government, and he ghost-wrote Gore’s Creating a Government that Works Better and Costs Less: Status Report.

Haas moved to freelance writing after a distinguished career in journalism.  He began as a municipal and county reporter for the Daily Register in Shrewsbury, NJ.  He then served as a statehouse correspondent for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and statehouse bureau chief for UPI (both in Harrisburg, PA) and as a budget and tax reporter for the Bond Buyer and National Journal (both in Washington, DC).

Public Policy

In late 2007, in his capacity at the time as Vice President for Policy at the Committee on the Present Danger, Haas presented testimony on Iran before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs.  Two years later, he served as a panelist at an international conference on Iran in London, sponsored by the Henry Jackson Society and the Legatum Institute.  He has written papers for institutions such as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and he has ghost-written papers and other policy materials for other organizations.

In late 2009, the Obama transition office asked him to direct the process of securing U.S. Senate confirmation for President Obama’s nominees to the White House Office of Management and Budget, including Director Peter Orszag and Deputy Director Rob Nabors.  He held that position until early February 2010, when the new Obama administration took over the process for its pending OMB nominees.

Communications Strategy

Haas was Communications Director and Press Secretary for Vice President Al Gore, serving as his spokesman; helping craft his strategic message; overseeing his media interviews, speeches, and announcements; editing speeches and other materials; and managing a staff of 10.

Before that, he was Communications Director for the White House Office of Management and Budget, serving as spokesman for OMB and Directors Alice Rivlin and Frank Raines; speaking for the Clinton Administration in countless TV, radio, and print interviews; structuring and editing the President’s annual federal budget; creating and writing the annual Citizen’s Guide to the Federal Budget; writing speeches; and editing other materials.

After his White House tenure, Haas served for two years as Director of Public Affairs and Special Assistant to the President at Yale University, where he was a senior policy advisor, led Yale’s communications efforts, served as its principal spokesman, and supervised 20-25 employees and interns.

Public Affairs Consulting

From 2001 to 2005, Haas was Senior Vice President and Director of Public Affairs at Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L), one of the world’s largest public relations firms.  There, he served as the senior counselor for clients confronting legislative and regulatory issues and as a strategic resource for clients throughout the firm.  Since January 2006, he has worked as an independent public affairs consultant.

At MS&L and on his own, Haas has worked for such clients as America Speaks, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The American Interest, America West Airlines, Beer Institute, Brookings Institution, Booya Studios, Business Executives for National Security, Capital One, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chiron, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, Federal Paper, Ford Foundation, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Imre Communications, Inova Health System, Institute for Global Therapeutics, Israel Project, James Lee Witt Associates, LeapFrog, Long Term Care Pharmacy Alliance, National Council of La Raza, New Century, Nike, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, Ostroff & Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble, Quadel Consulting, Royal Philips Electronics, Sanofi-Aventis, Tax Analysts, Teach for America, TenCate, United States Army, Verizon, and The Word Network.

Awards