Lawrence J. Haas, a former White House communications strategist and award-winning journalist, is Vice President for Policy at the Committee on the Present Danger. He is also Visiting Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute. He writes widely about foreign and domestic affairs, is quoted often in newspapers and magazines, and appears frequently on TV and radio. He also works as a public affairs consultant.
Writing and Public Commentary
Haas is a frequent commentator on public issues. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, San Diego Union-Tribune, Kansas City Star, Charlotte Observer, Hartford Courant, Albany Times-Union, New Hampshire Union Leader, Roll Call, Federal Paper, Government Executive, Washington Business Journal, PRWeek, and many other publications. He has appeared on FOX, CNN, CNNfn, CNBC, FNN, C-SPAN, Voice of America, NPR, the BBC, Al Hurra, and many local TV and radio shows; spoken before hundreds of trade groups; served as a guest lecturer at the Government Affairs Institute and Legislative Studies Institute; and spoken at Yale University, Pennsylvania State University, George Washington University, and the University of Rhode Island. He is a commentator on “MarketPlace,” a business radio show that airs on nearly 400 stations across the country. He is a member of, writes columns for, and serves as Vice President for Policy of, the Committee on the Present Danger, a private group that seeks to build public support for winning the war on terrorism. He also created and wrote “Public Affairs Perspective,” an on-line column about public affairs that Manning Selvage & Lee, the global public relations firm where he worked (see below), published every two weeks.
Haas has written three books and ghostwritten others. His 1990 book, Running on Empty: Bush, Congress and the Politics of a Bankrupt Government, chronicled policy-making during the elder President Bush’s first year in office. He then wrote two editions of The Washington Almanac (1992 and 1993), describing the key policy debates and policy-makers in Washington. Haas helped write From Red Tape to Results, Vice President Gore’s report on reinventing government, and he wrote Gore’s Creating a Government that Works Better and Costs Less: Status Report.
Haas moved to freelance writing after a distinguished career in journalism. He began as a municipal and county reporter for the Daily Register in Shrewsbury, NJ. He then served as Statehouse Correspondent for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Statehouse Bureau Chief for UPI (both in Harrisburg, PA) and as a budget and tax reporter for the Bond Buyer and National Journal (both in Washington, DC).
Communications Strategy
Haas was Communications Director and Press Secretary for Vice President Al Gore, serving as his spokesman; helping craft his strategic message; overseeing his media interviews, speeches, and announcements; editing speeches and other materials; and managing a staff of 10. Previously, he was Communications Director for the White House Office of Management and Budget, serving as spokesman for OMB and Directors Alice Rivlin and Frank Raines; speaking for the Clinton Administration in countless TV, radio, and print interviews; structuring and editing the President’s annual federal budget; creating and writing the annual Citizen’s Guide to the Federal Budget; writing speeches; and editing other materials.
After his White House tenure, Haas served for two years as Director of Public Affairs and Special Assistant to the President at Yale University, where he was a senior policy advisor, led Yale’s communications efforts, served as its principal spokesman, and supervised 20-25 employees and interns.
Public Affairs Consulting
From 2001 to 2005, Haas was Senior Vice President and Director of Public Affairs at Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L), one of the world’s largest public relations firms. There, he served as the senior counselor for clients dealing with legislative and regulatory issues and as a strategic resource for clients throughout the firm. Since January 2006, he has worked as an independent public affairs consultant.
At MS&L and on his own, Haas has worked for such clients as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The American Interest, America West Airlines, Beer Institute, Booya Studios, Brookings Institution, Business Executives for National Security, Capital One, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chiron, Coca Cola Enterprises, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, Federal Paper, Ford Foundation, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Inova Health System, Institute for Global Therapeutics, James Lee Witt Associates, LeapFrog, Long Term Care Pharmacy Alliance, National Council of La Raza, New Century, Nike, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, Ostroff & Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble, Quadel Consulting, Royal Philips Electronics, Sanofi-Aventis, Tax Analysts, Teach for America, U.S. Army, Verizon, and The Word Network.
Awards
Haas has received a series of awards. He won an MS&L “Silver Star” for the best public affairs campaign of 2002 for his work with Philips Consumer Electronics, a “Silver Star” in 2003 for bringing more visibility to MS&L in Washington and across the nation, and a “Silver Star” in 2004 for his public affairs efforts on behalf of a confidential client. Previously, he won awards from the AP for his coverage of the worst nursing home fire in New Jersey’s history and from the Bond Buyer for his coverage of the 1985-86 tax reform debate in Congress.