New Elis inside the Beltway

Sure, the Yale Alumni Magazine isn't being delivered to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue anymore, and the new administration seems to be a lot more Crimson than Blue. But Yale hasn't been completely shut out. In addition to three new members of Congress with Yale degrees, a few well-placed members of the Obama administration have called New Haven home.

In Congress
Democrat Michael Bennet ’93JD was appointed U.S. senator from Colorado after President Obama appointed Senator Kenneth Salazar to be secretary of the interior.

Democrat Tom Perriello ’96, ’01JD, unseated six-term Republican U.S. representative Virgil Goode in Virginia's fifth district.

Republican state senator Brett Guthrie ’97MPPM won the open seat for U.S. representative from Kentucky's second district.

In the administration
The highest-ranking Eli in the Obama administration is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ’73JD. James Steinberg ’78JD, deputy secretary of state, is Clinton's number two at the state department.

Greg Craig ’72JD is the new White House counsel, the president's main legal adviser. Dawn Johnsen ’83, ’86JD, has been nominated to be assistant attorney general and head of the justice department's Office of Legal Counsel. Marty Lederman ’88JD has been appointed to serve under Johnsen as an assistant attorney general.

Austan Goolsbee ’91, ’91MA, is staff director and chief economist for the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. The board also includes former School of Management dean William H. Donaldson ’53 and Yale's chief investment officer, David Swensen ’80PhD. (For Swensen's thoughts on the economy, see "David Swensen's Guide to Sleeping Soundly.") For Donaldson's, see "What Now?" in the January/February issue.)