White House Fellows


The White House Fellows program is a non-partisan fellowship established via Executive Order 11183 by President Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964. The fellowship is one of the United States' most prestigious programs for leadership and public service, offering exceptional U.S. citizens first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. The fellowship was founded based upon a suggestion from John W. Gardner, then the president of Carnegie Corporation and later the sixth secretary of health, education, and welfare.
File:TrumpWHF.jpg|thumb|The 2018–2019 White House Fellows with President Donald Trump outside of the White House.
White House Fellows spend a year working as a full-time, paid special assistant or advisor to senior White House staff, cabinet secretaries, the vice president, or the head of an independent executive-branch agency. Fellows also participate in an education program consisting of roundtable discussions with leaders from the private and public sectors. These roundtables are augmented through observation of policy in action, including domestic and international engagements with foreign dignitaries, industry executives, elected officials, and civil servants.
File:White House Fellows 2005-06.jpg|thumb|The 2005–2006 White House Fellows, including Dan Caine, with President George W. Bush.
File:SambrownbackWHF.jpg|thumb|The 1990–1991 White House Fellows, including Sam Brownback, in the Oval Office with President George H. W. Bush.
The selection process to become a White House Fellow is very competitive, with fellowships awarded on a strictly non-partisan basis. Each year after the application period closes, the staff of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships processes the applications and former fellows screen the applications to identify approximately one hundred of the most promising candidates. These selected individuals are then interviewed by several regional panels, which are composed of prominent local citizens. Based on the results of these interviews, the regional panelists and the director of the [|PCWHF] select approximately thirty candidates to proceed as national finalists. The PCWHF will then interview these finalists, recommending between 11 and 19 of them to the president for a one-year appointment through the White House Office. The program can receive more than 2,000 applicants per year, with a selection rate often of 1% or less. Selected civilians serve as Schedule A presidential appointees, while military members will be assigned to duty at the PCWHF at 712 Jackson Place, Washington, D.C.
File:ChaoWHF8384.jpg|thumb|The 1983–1984 White House Fellows, including Elaine Chao, outside of the White House.
File:ColinPowellWHF.jpg|thumb|The 1972–1973 White House Fellows, including Colin Powell, outside of the White House.
Once fellows complete their year of service, they join hundreds of other fellows as alumni of the program. The is the organization that represents the White House Fellows alumni efforts, leadership events and fundraising activities.

Demographics

When the White House Fellows program was established in 1964, the program required that all fellows meet the following criteria:
  • Have demonstrated unusual ability, high moral character, outstanding motivation, and a broad capacity for leadership.
  • Show exceptional promise of future development.
  • Are dedicated to the institutions of the United States and the values of American civilization.
  • Will have attained the age of twenty-three but not the age of thirty-six prior to the beginning of their service.
  • Shall be selected by the President without discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, creed, national origin, or political affiliation.
  • Citizens of the United States.
These initial criteria have been slightly modified over the years. In 1976, criteria were modified to disqualify regular federal employees and reaffirm that military personnel remained eligible. This same executive order decreased the term of the fellowship from 15 months to 12.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter revised the criteria again under Executive Order 12012. In this case, the explicit age requirement was removed. Instead, an emphasis was added such that fellows must be, "...early in their chosen careers..."
File:USSRWHF.jpg|thumb|White House Fellows receive an address at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute, U.S.S.R..
Since the inception of the program, White House Fellows have come from a variety of backgrounds.