Reinhold Richard Priebus is an American lawyer and politician who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017 and as White House chief of staff during the first six months of Donald Trump's presidency.
Raised in Wisconsin, Priebus worked as a clerk and graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1998. After working for law firm Michael Best, he was elected chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party in 2007. In 2009, Priebus became the general counsel for the Republican National Committee.
He won the 2011 Republican National Committee chairmanship election. As chairman, Priebus frequently criticized the policies of president Barack Obama. He also presided over the Republican Party during the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016, when he opposed Donald Trump during the early stages of the primaries, but later supported him in the general election. He began serving as Trump's chief of staff in January 2017 until resigning in July of that year. Priebus, who had the shortest tenure of any non-interim chief of staff in American history, drew controversy for his management style.
