Steve Bannon | |
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Bannon at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference
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White House Chief Strategist | |
In office January 20, 2017 – August 18, 2017 |
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President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Vacant |
Senior Counselor to the President | |
In office January 20, 2017 – August 18, 2017 |
|
President | Donald Trump |
Served with |
Kellyanne Conway (Counselor to the President) Dina Powell (Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives) |
Preceded by | John Podesta (2015) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Stephen Kevin Bannon November 27, 1953 Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Cathleen Houff Jordan (divorced) Mary Piccard (1995–1997) Diane Clohesy (divorced 2009) |
Children | 3 |
Education |
Virginia Tech (BA) Georgetown University (MA) Harvard University (MBA) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/branch | United States Navy |
Years of service | 1976–1983 |
Rank | Lieutenant (O-3) |
Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive and former investment banker, who is executive chairman of Breitbart News. He served as the White House Chief Strategist (a newly created position) in the administration of US President Donald Trump during the first seven months of his term. In this capacity, he attended the Principals Committee of the U.S. National Security Council from January 28, 2017 to April 5, 2017.
On August 17, 2016, in the later months of the campaign, Bannon joined Trump's 2016 presidential bid, taking the position of chief executive officer. Prior to taking a leave of absence in August 2016, he had been executive chair of Breitbart News, a far-right news, opinion, and commentary website which he described in 2016 as "the platform for the alt-right". Bannon left his position in the Trump administration on August 18, 2017; he then rejoined Breitbart News.
Bannon was an officer in the United States Navy for seven years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, serving on the destroyer USS Paul F. Foster as well as at the Pentagon. After his military service, he worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker in the Mergers and Acquisitions department. When he left the company, Bannon held the position of vice president. In 1993, he became acting director of the Earth-science research project Biosphere 2. In the 1990s, he became an executive producer in the Hollywood film and media industry; he produced 18 films between 1991 and 2016.
Stephen Kevin Bannon was born on November 27, 1953, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Doris (née Herr), a homemaker and Martin Bannon, who worked as an AT&T telephone lineman, later in middle management. His working class, Irish Catholic family was pro-Kennedy, pro-union Democrat. Bannon attended Benedictine College Preparatory, a private, Catholic, military high school in Richmond, Virginia graduating in 1971.