President-Elect Donald Trump announced Sunday afternoon he’s appointed Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, the first appointment of his incoming administration.
While Trump has run an outsider campaign against the Washington establishment, promising to “drain the swamp” in D.C., Priebus has been in Washington for almost five years now leading the Republican National Committee.
Here’s what to know about Trump’s new chief of staff:
His first name rhymes with "pints" and is short for Reinhold. Priebus is pronounced like pree-bus.
Education and Family Life
Priebus was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin to Richard and Dimitra Priebus. He is a self-described lifelong Green Bay Packers fan.
The 44-year-old is married to his high school sweetheart, Sally. They have two children together, Jack and Grace.
Priebus graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater in 1994 and received his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1998.
Before He Went to Washington
Before he was the national GOP chair, Priebus worked his way up through the ranks of his home state’s Republican party.
In 2004, Priebus lost at his only attempt at holding public office in a Wisconsin State Senate race. Priebus was also an attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich.
He served as chairman of the Wisconsin GOP's 1st Congressional District, at fellow Wisconsinite and close friend Paul Ryan's invitation, once Ryan joined Congress. Priebus’ other jobs with Wisconsin’s Republican party included state party treasurer and first vice chair.
In 2007, Priebus became the youngest person to step into the role of Wisconsin’s GOP chairman. Priebus reshaped the state's Republican Party, building the foundation for the party apparatus that swept Sen. Ron Johnson into office and helped Gov. Scott Walker win three elections in four years.
RNC Chair Years
Priebus has been the longest serving RNC chairman in modern history. He was first elected chairman on January 14, 2011 and inherited a RNC that was $23 million in debt. By the next year, Priebus dug the RNC out of its deep debt. The RNC had $20 million in cash on hand and only $13 million in debt.
Priebus was re-elected in 2013 and 2015.
Tension with Trump
Trump has praised Priebus’ leadership at the RNC and the two spoke every day when Trump was the GOP nominee. During the primaries, however, there were times when Trump attacked the RNC, though not Priebus personally.
After Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucuses, Trump tweeted that the RNC was "weak."
Back in February, Trump said during a press conference, “The bottom line is the RNC is controlled by the establishment, and the RNC is controlled by the special interests and the donors.”
Back in April, when a contested Republican convention seemed plausible, Trump accused the nomination process of being “stacked against [him] by the establishment.”
Priebus fired back on Twitter, “The rules were set last year. Nothing mysterious - nothing new.”
Trump has also put Priebus in an awkward position at times.
In an August 1 interview with CNN Preibus addressed Trump's attack on a Muslim family of a Gold Star Army Captain.
“I think our Gold Star families are precious, and they are to be honored and loved and cherished and I think that it is something that we believe in as a party. So yeah, I think this family should be off limits,” Priebus told the network.
Preibus spoke against Trump again after the 2005 Hollywood Access video of Trump making lewd comments about women was released in October.
“No women should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever,” Priebus said in a statement.
Priebus has played the piano since he was young and has won several piano competitions for his talent. A New York Times feature piece on Priebus revealed that he enjoys playing jazz piano while at home unwinding from the day and that he keeps a 29-gallon saltwater fish tank in his D.C. office.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel and Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2fNZPnW
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