Dana Perino Explained
Dana Marie Perino (born May 9, 1972) is an American political commentator and author who was the 26th White House Press Secretary, under President George W. Bush from September 14, 2007, to January 20, 2009. She was the second female White House Press Secretary, after Dee Dee Myers who served during the Clinton administration.
Perino is a political commentator for Fox News, while also serving as a co-host of the network's talk show The Five, and was a book publishing executive at Random House. On October 2, 2017, she began hosting The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino on Fox News.[1] In early 2021, Perino left The Daily Briefing to co-anchor America's Newsroom with Bill Hemmer.[2] In May 2023, Perino was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from CSU Pueblo, her alma mater. [3]
Early life and career
Born in Evanston, Wyoming on May 9, 1972, she grew up in Denver, Colorado. Two of her paternal great-grandparents were Italian immigrants.[4] [5] [6] She attended Ponderosa High School in Parker, a suburb southeast of Denver.[7] Perino graduated from Colorado State University Pueblo with a bachelor's degree in mass communications and minors in both political science and Spanish.[8] She was on the university's forensics team and worked at KTSC-TV, the campus-based Rocky Mountain PBS affiliate.[9] She also worked at KCCY-FM on the 2 to 6 a.m. shift.[10] Perino went on to obtain a master's degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS).[11] During her time at UIS, she also worked for WCIA, a CBS affiliate, as a daily reporter covering the Illinois Capitol.[12]
Perino next worked in Washington, D.C. for Congressman Scott McInnis (R-CO) as a staff assistant before serving nearly four years as the press secretary for Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO), who then chaired the House Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power.[13]
After Schaefer announced his retirement in 1998, Perino and husband Peter McMahon moved to Great Britain.[7]
In November 2001, Perino returned to Washington, D.C., and secured a position as a spokesperson for the Department of Justice,[14] at which she served for two years.[15]
Perino then joined the White House staff as the associate director of communications for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), where she provided strategic advice on message development, media relations and public outreach.[16] [17]
Press secretary
Perino was hired by White House chief of staff Andy Card two months after the September 11 attacks. Initially, she was associate director of communications for the White House CEQ in 2002.[18]
Perino served as Deputy Press Secretary from 2005 to 2007. From March 27 through April 30, 2007, she was the Acting White House Press Secretary while Tony Snow underwent treatment for colon cancer.[19]
On August 31, 2007, President George W. Bush announced Snow would be resigning his post for health reasons where Perino would become his replacement.[20] Perino served as Assistant to the President and as White House Press Secretary from September 14, 2007, until the end of the Bush administration in January 2009.[21] [22]
On December 14, 2008, a TV journalist, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, threw two shoes at Bush during a Baghdad press conference. Bush successfully dodged both, but Perino's eye was injured by a microphone stand during the commotion surrounding al-Zaidi's arrest.[23] [24] [25] [21]
Post-Bush administration career
Since leaving the White House, Perino became a political commentator on Fox News. She is a regular co-host on the talk show, The Five. In November 2009, she was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an agency overseeing government-sponsored international broadcasting,[26] and was confirmed by the Senate on June 30, 2010.[27] In 2010, she started teaching a class in political communications part-time at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.[28] In March 2011 the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., announced Perino had joined its books imprint Crown Forum as editorial director[29] but she has since left this position.
Beginning September 18, 2016, Perino's podcast Perino & Stirewalt: I'll Tell You What, co-hosted with Chris Stirewalt, premiered as a weekly limited series on the Fox News Channel. A new show was released weekly until Stirewalt's firing from the network after the 2020 presidential election.
In 2022, she served as a guest host of Fox News' late night talk show Gutfeld!, as of 2023 she continues to serve as a regular fill in for host for Greg Gutfeld.[30]
In August 2023, it was announced Perino would host a new podcast entitled Perino on Politics on Fox News Radio ahead of the 2024 presidential election.[31]
On August 30, 2023, Fox News Media announced Perino would moderate the second GOP presidential primary debate on Fox Business alongside Stuart Varney and Ilia Calderón.[32] Towards the end of the debate, she asked the candidates to "vote [one of their fellow candidates] off the island." None of the candidates was willing to take her offer with the exception of Chris Christie, who later refused to reveal whose name he wrote down after a couple of candidates began criticizing the question.[33] The audience responded with laughter.[34] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the question outright. "I'm not going to do that, with all due respect, we're here, we're happy to debate, I think that that's disrespectful to my fellow competitors," he said. The other candidates nodded in agreement.[35]
Other media appearances
In May 2012, Perino appeared on Jeopardy! during its "Power Players" week, facing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and CNBC's David Faber.[36]
Personal life
Perino met her future husband, English-born Peter McMahon, in August 1997. They were married in 1998.[37]
Perino has been a resident of Bay Head, New Jersey.[38] Perino had a Vizsla dog named Jasper who died on September 4, 2021.[39] A few months later, she announced on the Fox News Channel that she and her husband purchased another Vizsla named Percy.[40]
See also
Bibliography
External links
Notes and References
- News: DETAILS: Fox News Channel to Launch New Daytime Lineup. September 26, 2017. Fox News Insider. September 27, 2017. en.
- News: Dana Perino co-hosts America's Newsroom with Bill Hemmer. March 22, 2021.
- Web site: January 30, 2023 . Colorado State University Pueblo Announces Dana Perino as 2023 Commencement Speaker . May 15, 2023 . CSU Pueblo.
- Web site: 2008. Ruffino . Elissa . White house press secretary dana perino to address public policy lecture series . . March 25, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716133817/http://www.niaf.org/news/index.asp?id=561 . July 16, 2011 .
- Web site: Dana Perino – Voce Italiana Online – Washington DC . Voceitaliana.com . January 1, 2004 . June 15, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130902133051/http://www.voceitaliana.com/stories_07/perino.html . September 2, 2013 . dead .
- https://web.archive.org/web/20150530162015/http://www.bookdownloading.com/article/detail/minute-mentoring-interview-with-janice-perino-dana-perino-mom/ Dana Perino Interview: "Minute Mentoring Interview with Janice Perino (a.k.a. My Mom)"
- Web site: March 31, 2007 . Barge . Chris . Coloradan steps right into the media spotlight . . March 24, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080327014629/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_5455331%2C00.html. March 27, 2008 .
- Web site: November 26, 2007. Keller. Susan Jo. Dana Perino. The New York Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20100602114202/http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/p/dana_perino/index.html. June 2, 2010.
- Web site: January 18, 2009. Zaletel. Cora. White House Press Secretary to present Spring commencement address at CSU Pueblo. Colorado State University Pueblo. March 24, 2010.
- Web site: Perino's Faux Pas: Brian's Boner Recalled . wordpress.com. August 25, 2012.
- Web site: Fall 2007. Dana Perino – U of I grad makes good. University of Illinois Alumni Association. March 24, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20130227054228/https://www.uiaa.org/uis/news/uisalumni/stxt0708.html. February 27, 2013. dead. mdy-all.
- Web site: Fall 2007. Dana Perino – UIS grad makes good. University of Illinois Alumni Association. March 24, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20130227054228/https://www.uiaa.org/uis/news/uisalumni/stxt0708.html. February 27, 2013. dead. mdy-all.
- News: December 14, 2007. Baxter, Sarah. Bush's cool blonde is a northern gran. The Times. December 14, 2007 . London. https://web.archive.org/web/20080918014941/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3022248.ece . September 18, 2008.
- News: Roberts. Michael. New Forecast. Denver Westwood News. September 19, 2007. December 18, 2008. September 6, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090906060713/http://www.westword.com/2007-09-20/news/new-forecast/. dead.
- News: Brass. Kevin. Media Watch: The Improbable Rise of Dana Perino. September 21, 2007. December 17, 2008.
- News: Marshall. Christa . Coloradan takes over for Tony Snow . PoliticsWest, The Denver Post . August 31, 2007. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715103210/http://www.politicswest.com/7672/colorado_native_takes_over_tony_snow . July 15, 2011.
- Web site: Dana Perino – Assistant to the President and Press Secretary. U.S. Government. December 17, 2008.
- News: Goldsmith. Jan . Someone San Diego Should Know: Dana Perino . December 8, 2021 . San Diego Union-Tribune . September 21, 2021.
- News: Tony Snow Resigns as White House Spokesman. Abramowitz. Michael. The Washington Post. September 1, 2007. July 24, 2018. en-US. 0190-8286.
- Web site: White House Daily Briefing. C-SPAN. February 8, 2017. August 31, 2007.
- News: Dana M. Perino . July 24, 2018 . The Washington Post.
- Carswell. Sue. Dana Perino's Ready for a Glass of Red Wine. Vanity Fair. February 8, 2017. December 2008.
- News: Sole Survivor. Checkpoint Baghdad. December 14, 2008. December 14, 2008.
- News: Bush ducks flying shoes during Iraq visit. CTV Television Network. December 14, 2008. December 14, 2008. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20081215054954/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081214/bush_iraqvisit_081214/20081214?hub=TopStories. December 15, 2008.
- News: Iraqi Journalist Hurls Shoes at Bush . https://web.archive.org/web/20170625001610/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/middleeast/15prexy.html . dead . June 25, 2017 . The New York Times . December 15, 2008 . December 15, 2008 .
- https://web.archive.org/web/20091124082137/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gpxs-A7_KeHNXFlGtrDZ-QzIw-Fw "Obama taps former Bush aide to key government post"
- News: June 30, 2010. Kane. Paul. Former Bush, Reid aides approved for broadcasting board. The Washington Post. July 13, 2010.
- Web site: July 14, 2010. Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino to Teach at GW's Graduate School of Political Management. George Washington University. July 14, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100722010247/http://www.gwu.edu/explore/mediaroom/newsreleases/formerwhitehousepresssecretarydanaperinototeachatgwsgraduateschoolofpoliticalmanagement. July 22, 2010. dead. mdy-all.
- Web site: Dana Perino Appointed Editorial Director of Crown Forum . GalleyCat . Maryann . Yin . March 30, 2011 . August 5, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120114075154/http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/dana-perino-appointed-editorial-director-of-crown-forum_b26656. January 14, 2012. dead. mdy-all.
- Web site: 2023-08-30 . 'Gutfeld!' highlights the best in animal videos . 2023-09-01 . Fox News Video . en-US.
- Web site: Steinberg . Brian . August 14, 2023. Fox News' Dana Perino to Launch 'Perino on Politics' Podcast for 2024 Election Cycle . August 14, 2023. Variety. en-US.
- Web site: Mastrangelo. Dominick. August 30, 2023 . Stuart Varney, Dana Perino to moderate second GOP debate on Fox Business . August 30, 2023 . The Hill . en-US.
- News: Vazquez . Maegan . Asked whom they’d vote off the island, Republican candidates stage a mutiny . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002141301/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/28/vote-island-republican-debate/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjk1ODczNjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjk3MjU1OTk5LCJpYXQiOjE2OTU4NzM2MDAsImp0aSI6ImY4ZDdmOGM1LWIwNmEtNDdmNS04OTY3LWVhYjk1OGE0NWM5OSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDIzLzA5LzI4L3ZvdGUtaXNsYW5kLXJlcHVibGljYW4tZGViYXRlLyJ9.6rZ5p1kHVxIjswBPeSWjYgwTj4siC26I-QvK2JaMYaM&itid=gfta . 2 October 2023 . . 29 January 2024 . 28 September 2023.
- News: GOP candidates at debate refuse to pick a challenger to 'vote off the island'. Nick. Robertson. September 28, 2023 . The Hill . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231117044704/https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4227508-gop-candidates-refuse-to-pick-challenger-to-vote-off/ . Nov 17, 2023 .
- Web site: 2023-09-28 . Republican candidates refuse to answer 'Survivor' question at debate . Martha . McHardy . The Independent . en . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231109002316/https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/gop-debate-survivor-question-donald-trump-b2420177.html . Nov 9, 2023 .
- Web site: Dana Perino's 'Jeopardy!' performance . Fox News Video . May 16, 2012 . June 15, 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120702104741/http://video.foxnews.com/v/1642938126001/dana-perinos-jeopardy-performance . Jul 2, 2012 .
- News: Justich . Kerry . How Fox News' Dana Perino met her husband by chance on an airplane: 'He's cute, and he's not wearing a wedding ring, and he has a British accent' . December 8, 2021 . Yahoo! News . November 14, 2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211208191456/https://www.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-dana-perino-met-husband-chance-airplane-hes-cute-hes-not-wearing-wedding-ring-british-accent-201418864.html . December 8, 2021 .
- Cotter, Kelly-Jane. "Coronavirus NJ: Fox News with Dana Perino, and her dog, broadcasts from Bay Head", Asbury Park Press, April 10, 2020. Accessed April 11, 2020. "Like many broadcast journalists, Fox News anchor Dana Perino now does this every day. Since March, when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted social isolation measures in New York City, Perino has been broadcasting remotely from her home in Bay Head."
- Web site: Dana Perino: Goodbye, Jasper. Fox News. September 6, 2021.
- Web site: Dana Perino: America, meet Percy Vizsla. Fox News. November 8, 2021.