Tommy Vietor’s journey with Obama: From van driver to National Security Council spokesman

Yahoo! News' Power Players ^ | March 6, 2013 | Jonathan Karl, Richard Coolidge, and Jordyn Phelps

[2ndDivisionVet]

Tommy Vietor started working for Barack Obama when he was still Senator Obama--well before he became a presidential candidate--and until Friday, the 32-year-old Vietor hadn't stopped. His first job for Obama was as the driver of a press van, and he rose up the ranks through the 2008 campaign, and then the White House press office, to become the National Security Council spokesman.

Now leaving the White House to open a political communications firm with the president's departing speechwriter Jon Favreau, Vietor says it's been the privilege of a lifetime to work for the president.

"It's been kind of a front seat at some historic events--killing bin Laden, ending the Iraq war, a whole bunch of things--so it's been extraordinary," Vietor says.

The longtime Obama staffer says it's not without some sadness that he moves on, recalling a recent conversation he had with the president.

"I said 'Sir, you know, talking about it, and I feel it's a little sad to be leaving,' and he was like 'what do you mean sad for you?' he said, 'it's sad for me! You guys are you know, ditching me'," Vietor recalls to Politics Confidential of his conversation with the president. "But you know I think he's excited. The turnover is good for the administration, for him, get some new faces in there, new energy."(continued)

[2ndDivisionVet]

"Did you change 'attacks' to 'demonstrations' in the talking points?" Baier pressed.

"Maybe, I don't remember," Vietor responded, "Dude, this was two years ago!" he said incredulously.

"Dude, it's the thing everyone's talking about," Baier said.

[VerySadAmerican]

Now he will become a millionaire. Those with connections continue to cash in. And party affiliation has nothing to do with it. It’s not who you know, it’s what you have on them.

[1rudeboy]

Trust me on this, guys and gals, I have nothing against van drivers--but a van driver rose so quickly to become National Security Council spokesman?
/facepalm

[struggle]

I give him 6 months.

[livius]

Bambi is expected to make $20 million from his memoirs...and Moochelle is expected to make at least $12 million from hers.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The Clintons have made HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS since 2001 and they’re not even black.

[FlingWingFlyer]

From, “Dude, buckle your seatbelt” to “Dude, that was two years ago”. He’s come a long way.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Sadly, this is representative of the talent he now can muster...

[TalBlack]

Trust me on this, guys and gals, I have nothing against van drivers—but a van driver rose so quickly to become National Security Council spokesman?
/facepalm

Shows what you know. When I got my “A” CDL many years ago I KNEW my future was assured at the National Security Council.

[Tailback]

Trust me on this, guys and gals, I have nothing against van drivers--but a van driver rose so quickly to become National Security Council spokesman?

He didn't RISE to become NSC spokesman, he knelt...

[Liz]

Frankly, I think ex-National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor looked real cute on Fox.

Must be fun for a Ntl Security spox to still be able to buy “big boy” clothes in the “juvenile department” of his local dept store.

Mom’s there, too-—like always-—to pick out little Tommy’s ties-—so her little boy will look good on TV.

[HMS Surprise]

The White House has become a frat house with first strike nuclear weapons.

[MeshugeMikey]

word on the street is that Reggie Love was not pleased.....

[peeps36]

That song Secret Lovers popped into my head while I was reading this story. They should do a story titled, The Young Men Behind Obama.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Yep.

[Rockpile]

If one was suspicious one might suspect that providing certain goods and services for The One could pay off in one being given a highly paid position for which one is totally un-qualified.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“Those with connections continue to cash in. And party affiliation has nothing to do with it. It’s not who you know, it’s what you have on them.”

Yep. Its obscene in many ways. I wish we could move the Capital to the middle of North Dakota and fence out lobbyists.

[TruthWillWin]

Was he old enough to have a drivers license in 2008?

[Liz]

Tommy speaks (gag).

BACKCHANNEL.COM-June 5, 2013 by Laura Rozen

>

EDITED President Obama's National Security Advisor Tom Donilon will step down, to be succeeded by UN envoy Susan Rice, the White House announced Wednesday. President Obama will nominate his former White House advisor and humanitarian expert Samantha Power to be the next US envoy to the United Nations.

The announcement comes in advance of President Obama’s first meeting with China’s President Xi, in California later this week. Donilon has made the US “rebalance” to Asia a focus of his tenure as Obama’s top national security advisor, and traveled to China late last month to discuss the agenda.

The Back Channel reported May 3rd that Donilon was expected to step down this summer, several months earlier than previous reports had suggested. Among his considerations, associates said, was that he had been doing this for over four long years, and family medical issues.

(Sources say that Donilon’s wife Catherine Russell, former chief of staff to the Vice President’s wife Jill Biden, is recovering from a medical issue. Obama earlier this spring nominated her to be his next ambassador at large for global women’s issues.)

White House associates say Rice and Power, like Donilon, are trusted Obama advisors who have been in his inner circle of national security confidants going back to his 2008 presidential campaign. As such, sources anticipated a relatively smooth transition and a good deal of continuity on major foreign policy issues.

“I think the interesting thing about this transition is it’s clearly been planned for a long time,” former White House spokesperson Tommy Vietor told Back Channel. “It’s not a shake up. It’s a transition in which Susan and Sam can hit the ground running because they have been doing it for four years.”

Read more: http://backchannel.al-monitor.com/index.php/tag/tommy-vietor/#ixzz30hVKPFQP

===========================================

Susan and Samantha "transitioned" b/c Susan knew seven ways to prepare ramen while Samantha is adept at opening a can of Spaghetti-o's.

[raybbr]

"I said 'Sir,...

Can anyone here ever imagine calling Obama "Sir"?