{{short description|American political commentator and podcast host}} {{use mdy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Tommy Vietor | image = Tommy Vietor SXSW 2017-03-14 01 (cropped).jpg | caption = Vietor in 2017 | birth_name = Thomas Frederick Vietor IV | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|8|31}} | birth_place = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | political_party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | spouse = {{marriage|Hanna Koch|2018}} | children = 2 | education = [[Kenyon College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) }} '''Thomas Frederick Vietor IV''' (born August 31, 1980<ref>{{Cite news |last=Parnes |first=Amie |date=August 31, 2009 |title=Vietor's the birthday boy |url=http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0809/white_house_birthday_5fe21a27-2258-4c41-aad4-83a4c62ca818.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408135427/http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0809/white_house_birthday_5fe21a27-2258-4c41-aad4-83a4c62ca818.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2017 |work=Politico |language=en-US |access-date=April 8, 2017}}</ref>) is an American political commentator and podcaster. He was a spokesman for [[President of the United States|President]] [[Barack Obama]] and the [[United States National Security Council]] from 2011 to 2012.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Parsons |first=Christi |date=February 24, 2013 |title=Changing of the young guard at the Obama White House |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2013-feb-24-la-pn-changing-of-the-young-guard-20130224-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |access-date=April 28, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Vietor |first=Tommy |date=November 17, 2016 |title=How Will the Press Respond to Trump's Secrecy? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/trump-press-secrecy/508034/ |work=The Atlantic |language=en-US |access-date=April 28, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Landler |first=Mark |date=March 5, 2013 |title=Spokesmanship Over, Ex-Obama Aide Now Feels Free ... to Speak |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/us/politics/spokesmanship-over-ex-obama-aide-now-feels-free-to-speak.html |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |access-date=April 28, 2021}}</ref> He is a co-founder<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crooked.com/team/|title=Team|website=Crooked Media|language=en-US|access-date=February 17, 2020}}</ref> of [[Crooked Media]] with fellow former Obama staffers [[Jon Favreau (speechwriter)|Jon Favreau]] and [[Jon Lovett]], and co-hosts the podcasts ''[[Pod Save America]]'' and ''[[Pod Save the World]]''.
== Early life == Vietor was raised in [[Dedham, Massachusetts]] and attended [[Milton Academy]].<ref>{{cite tweet |author=Tommy Vietor |user=TVietor08 |date=23 April 2013 |title=Lots of reasons to love my hometown of Dedham, MA. Here's one http://www.museumofbadart.org @BostonGlobe @MarkLeibovich @mikebarnicle @BillSimmons |number=326703677886840832 |website=Twiitter |language=en-US |access-date=November 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |author=Tommy Vietor |user=TVietor08 |date=23 July 2016 |title=I grew up in Dedham and don't miss the wild New England summer storms. Hope you guys didn't sustain damage. |number=756860834614087680 |website=Twitter |language=en-US |access-date=November 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Historic Preservation Commission - Rumson, NJ: A History of Sheep's Run|url=http://www.rumsonnj.gov/rhpc/history-sheeps-run}}</ref> He graduated from [[Kenyon College]] in 2002 with a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in [[philosophy]].<ref name=":0" /> While at Kenyon, he played on the men's [[lacrosse]] team<ref>{{cite web |title=Stats: Tommy Vietor 2000 |url=http://www.lax.com/player/4038/year/2000/ |website=LAX |access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Stats: Tommy Vietor |url=http://www.lax.com/player/3979/year/2002 |url-status=dead |date=2002 |website=LAX |access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229031328/https://www.lax.com/player/3979/year/2002}}</ref> and was a member of the [[Psi Upsilon]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite web |last=Peterson |first=Keith |date=November 18, 1999 |title=Psi Upsilon wins IM Football tourney |url=https://digital.kenyon.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1357&context=collegian |website=Archives at Digital Kenyon: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Exchange |publisher=The Kenyon Collegian |language=en-US |page=15 |access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref>
== Career == === Political campaigns (2004–2008) === In 2004, Vietor turned down an offer from the [[John Kerry]] [[John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004|presidential campaign]] in favor of joining [[Illinois Senate|Illinois State Senator]] [[Barack Obama]] for his first statewide run. His first job for Obama was driving the candidate's press van across rural Illinois. During this period, Vietor worked with and learned from Obama spokesman [[Robert Gibbs]].<ref name=":0" />
Vietor was deputy press secretary for the Barack Obama Illinois Senate campaign in 2004, then became deputy press secretary for Senator Obama the following year and press secretary the year after that. During Obama's presidential campaign from 2007 to 2008, he was Iowa Press Secretary.<ref name="Post resume">{{cite news |title=Tommy Vietor |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tommy-vietor/gIQA4kmdAP_print.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |date=24 July 2012 |access-date=March 22, 2018}}</ref>
=== White House positions (2009–2013) === [[File:Barack Obama discusses 2009 NCAA Men's Div I Tournament bracket with Robert Gibbs & Tommy Vietor 3-17-09.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Vietor with [[Robert Gibbs]] and [[Barack Obama]]]] Following Obama's victory in the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 presidential election]], Vietor became the Assistant White House Press Secretary, from January 2009 to January 2011; he then served as National Security Spokesman and [[Special assistant to the president]] from January 2011 until March 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tommy Vietor's journey with Obama: From van driver to National Security Council spokesman |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/blogs/power-players-abc-news/tommy-vietor-journey-obama-van-driver-national-security-122803525.html |website=Yahoo! News |language=en-US |access-date=January 2, 2018}}</ref>
Vietor left the White House in March 2013, along with Obama's Director of Speechwriting [[Jon Favreau (speechwriter)|Jon Favreau]], to pursue a career in private sector consulting and screenwriting. Together, they founded the communications firm Fenway Strategies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jan |first=Tracy |date=March 3, 2013 |title=Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau leaves West Wing for screenwriting |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/03/03/obama-speechwriter-jon-favreau-leaves-west-wing-for-screenwriting/Evt7Rtg5ax9dwbnVjFfOgJ/story.html |work=Boston Globe |language=en-US |access-date=January 2, 2018}}</ref>
=== Podcasting === In March 2016, Vietor became a regular co-host of [[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]]'s political podcast ''[[Keepin' it 1600]]'', along with Favreau and their fellow Obama administration alumni [[Dan Pfeiffer]] and [[Jon Lovett]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Karni |first=Annie |date=October 6, 2016 |title='Obama bros' learn to love Hillary |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/obama-favreau-clinton-trump-voter-229213 |website=Politico |language=en-US |access-date=December 2, 2016}}</ref>
Shortly after the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]], Vietor, Lovett and Favreau decided to pursue podcasting and activism on a full-time basis. They founded their own company, [[Crooked Media]], and launched a new podcast, ''[[Pod Save America]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wilstein|first=Matt|date=January 9, 2017|orig-date=April 11, 2017|title=The 'Keepin' It 1600' Guys Launch Crooked Media to Counter Trump|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-keepin-it-1600-guys-launch-crooked-media-to-counter-trump|website=The Daily Beast|access-date=April 28, 2021}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[Recode]]''′s [[Kara Swisher]], Vietor explained that "If [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary]] [Clinton] had won, we probably would've kept doing this as a hobby... But when she lost, I think we all had this existential crisis, where it didn't feel right to wake up every day and obsess about politics and what's happening in the country, and then go to work doing something else."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Eric |date=March 15, 2017 |title=Crooked Media's founders aren't paying themselves anything |url=https://www.recode.net/2017/3/15/14926278/crooked-media-pod-save-america-jon-favreau-tommy-vietor-jon-lovett-sxsw-recode-podcast |work=Recode |access-date=January 3, 2018}}</ref>
Along with [[Ben Rhodes (White House staffer)|Ben Rhodes]], who served as Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting under President Obama, Vietor also hosts a podcast covering global issues and policy making decisions called ''[[Pod Save the World]]''. The podcast debuted on January 10, 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|title=iTunesCharts.net: 'Pod Save America' by Crooked Media (American Podcasts iTunes Chart)|url=http://www.itunescharts.net/us/artists/podcast/crooked-media/podcasts/pod-save-america/|website=iTunes Charts|language=en|access-date=January 3, 2018}}</ref>
Leading up to the [[2022 FIFA World Cup]] in [[Qatar]], Vietor co-hosted with [[Roger Bennett (journalist)|Roger Bennett]] (best known for ''[[Men in Blazers]]'') the seven-part mini-series ''World Corrupt''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Corrupt|url=https://crooked.com/podcast-series/world-corrupt/|website=Crooked Media |language=en-US |access-date=February 11, 2024}}</ref>
In 2019, Vietor hosted a five-part miniseries about the Iowa caucuses called ''Pod Save America: On the Ground in Iowa''. The miniseries was produced by [[Pineapple Street Studios]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pod Save America: On the ground in Iowa Archives |url=https://crooked.com/podcast-series/iowa/|website=Crooked Media |language=en-US |access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
== Personal life == In July 2018, Vietor married Hanna Koch in [[Healdsburg, California]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ru's Farm Healdsburg Wedding // Hanna + Tommy |url=https://www.alisonyinweddings.com/blog/2019/5/15/rus-farm-healdsburg |website=Alison Yin Weddings |date=May 23, 2019 |access-date=November 7, 2022}}</ref> Vietor was previously engaged in 2009 to Katie McCormick-Lelyveld, [[Michelle Obama]]'s chief spokeswoman.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elliott |first1=Philip |date=August 10, 2009 |title=CAPITAL CULTURE: Obamas not only White House pair |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-us-obama-family-ties-081009-2009aug10-story.html |website=The San Diego Union-Tribune |access-date=February 6, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=From Obama staffer, a stunning proposal |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/d-day-notebook-from-obama-staffer-a-stunning-proposal/ |website=The Seattle Times |date=June 7, 2009 |access-date=February 6, 2023}}</ref>
On January 27, 2022, Tommy and Hanna Vietor experienced the stillbirth of a daughter at 24 weeks of pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Slater |first1=Georgia |date=January 28, 2022 |title='Pod Save America' Co-Host Tommy Vietor Shares Loss of Daughter at 24 Weeks in Heartbreaking Post |url=https://people.com/parents/tommy-vietor-shares-loss-of-daughter-24-weeks/ |website=People |access-date=November 7, 2022}}</ref> On Instagram, Vietor wrote that "A knot in her umbilical robbed her of nutrients and us of our future together".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hanson |first1=Kait |date=January 31, 2022 |title='Pod Save America' co-host shares emotional post about loss of baby at 24 weeks |url=https://www.today.com/parents/babies/pod-america-co-host-tommy-vietor-shares-loss-24-week-baby-rcna14192 |website=Today |access-date=November 7, 2022}}</ref> The couple had a daughter on December 6, 2022, and on May 7, 2024, they had a son.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Andaloro |first=Angela |date=December 13, 2022 |title='Pod Save America' Co-Host Tommy Vietor Welcomes Baby Girl Nearly One Year After Loss of Daughter |url=https://people.com/parents/pod-save-america-tommy-vietor-welcomes-baby-after-loss-of-daughter/ |access-date=December 14, 2022 |website=People}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{twitter}} * [https://www.c-span.org/person/?109233 Appearances] on [[C-SPAN]]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vietor, Tommy}} [[Category:1980 births]] [[Category:American political podcasters]] [[Category:Crooked Media people]] [[Category:Kenyon College alumni]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Massachusetts Democrats]] [[Category:Milton Academy alumni]] [[Category:Obama administration personnel]] [[Category:People from Dedham, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Psi Upsilon]] [[Category:The Ringer people]]