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Lawrence Ari Fleischer (born October 13, 1960) was the press secretary for U.S. President George W. Bush from January 2001 to July 2003. Fleischer was born in Pound Ridge, New York.

Congressional staffer

Upon his 1982 graduation from Middlebury College in Vermont, Fleischer worked as press secretary for Jon Fossil, a Republican candidate for a NY Congressional seat. Fleischer worked as press secretary for Congressmen Norman Lent. From 1985 to 1988 he was the field director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. He went back to being a press secretary in 1988, working for Congressman Joseph DioGuardi for a short time.

Fleischer served as Senator Pete Domenici's press secretary from 1989 to 1994. He then served as spokesman for the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee for five years. Later, he was deputy communications director for George H. W. Bush's 1992 reelection campaign.

White House Press Secretary

Although Fleischer served as communications director for Elizabeth Dole during her presidential run in the 2000 election campaign, he joined George W. Bush's presidential campaign after Dole dropped out of the race. When Bush became president the next year, he tapped Fleischer to be his first press secretary.

Fleischer first introduced a new phrase, homicide bombing, to describe what has also been called suicide bombing, on April 12, 2002, to emphasize the terroristic connotations of the tactic.

The president…convened a meeting of the National Security Council, at which point, in the middle of the meeting, the president was informed about this morning's homicide bombing in Jerusalem.…The Saudi telethon, as they have told it to us, is to provide assistance to the Palestinian people, and that isn't—no money is going to go to provide the homicide bombers with any assistance from the Saudi government.

— Ari Fleischer, "White House Regular Briefing," Federal News Service, April 12, 2002

On May 19, 2003 he announced that he would resign during the summer, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife and to work in the private sector. He was replaced by deputy press secretary Scott McClellan on July 15, 2003.

Alleged role in Plame affair

Further information: Plame affair

On July 18, 2005, Bloomberg reported that in his sworn testimony before the grand jury investigating the leak, Fleischer denied having seen a memo circulating on Air Force One on July 7, 2003 which named Plame in connection to Wilson's mission and which identified her as a CIA covert agent. However, a former Bush Administration official also on the plane testified to having seen Fleischer perusing the document (see[1], [2]).

Columnist Robert Novak, who published Plame's name on July 14, 2003, made a call to Fleischer on July 7, 2003 before Fleischer's trip to Africa with the President. It is unclear whether Fleischer returned Novak's call ([3]). However, Fleischer is mentioned in Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's indictment of Cheney aide Scooter Libby: the indictment states that Libby told Fleischer (referred to as the White House press secretary in the indictment) that Plame worked for the CIA and that this fact was not well-known. No charges have been brought against Fleischer.

Personal life

• He married Rebecca Davis, an employee in the Office of Management and Budget, in November 2002. The couple live in Washington, D.C.

• Fleischer's brother, Michael Fleischer, works for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

• Fleischer is an avid fan of baseball and the New York Yankees, and could be seen from time to time playing catch with President Bush on the White House lawn.

• After leaving the White House, he formed his own consulting firm, Ari Fleischer Communications.

• He is a member of Kappa Delta Rho fraternity.

• He is involved with the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Quotes

• "Freedom's taste is unquenchable" after he was asked about the President's reaction to TV coverage of Iraqis celebrating during the 2003 invasion of Baghdad ([4]).

• "New information has come to our attention that puts in perspective the results of the vote in Palm Beach County... Palm Beach County is a Pat Buchanan stronghold and that's why Pat Buchanan received 3,407 votes there." Proposing an alternative to the idea that Florida voters were misled by the butterfly ballot in the 2000 Presidential election ([5]).

• "They're reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do." Comment on controversial remarks by Representative John Cooksey (R-LA) and comedian Bill Maher after September 11, 2001([6]).

• "If Saddam Hussein indicates that he has weapons of mass destruction and that he is violating United Nations resolutions, then we will know that Saddam Hussein again deceived the world. If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world" ([7]).

• "I can only say the cost of a one-way ticket is substantially less than that. The cost of one bullet, the Iraqi people taking it (on) themselves, is substantially less than that." Advocating the assassination of Saddam Hussein as a less costly alternative to an American invasion of Iraq ([8]).

External links

• NewsHour interview from PBS
• CNN article on Fleischer's resignation
• Transcripts of all White House press briefings since 2001
• A sourced biography from a University of Florida student