Joshua Bolten Biography

Joshua Bolten served as Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush from 28 March 2006 until 20 January 2009.

Bolten was a longtime government employee, stretching back to 1985 when he began serving as counsel to the Senate Finance Committee.

He also served under George Bush the elder as counsel to the U.S. Trade Representative and as a deputy for legislative affairs.

Bolten was with George W. Bush from the beginning of Bush’s presidential career: Bolten was working at the investment firm Goldman Sachs when he was recruited to be the policy director for Bush’s 2000 campaign.

Bolten then served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy (2001-2003) and as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2003-2006).

As Chief of Staff he replaced Andrew Card, who had served in that role since Bush’s 2001 inauguration, and was in turn replaced by Democrat Rahm Emanuel in 2009.

After leaving the White House, Bolten returned to the business of consulting, then joined the lobbying group Business Roundtable (BRT), whose mission is to make it easier for big business in the United States. He took over as director of BRT in 2017.