1. Reinhold Richard "Reince" Priebus is an American politician, attorney, and naval officer 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 first presidency.
In 2009, Reince Priebus became the general counsel for the Republican National Committee.
Reince Priebus won the 2011 Republican National Committee chairmanship election.
Reince Priebus 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.
Reince Priebus began serving as Trump's chief of staff in January 2017 until resigning in July of that year.
Reince Priebus, who had the shortest tenure of any non-interim chief of staff in American history, drew controversy for his management style.
Reince Priebus was born on March 18,1972, the son of Dimitra Pitsiladis and Richard Reince Priebus.
Reince Priebus's father is a former union electrician and his mother a real estate agent.
Reince Priebus's father is of German and English descent and his mother is of Greek descent; she was born to parents originally from Mytilene and Khartoum, since there was a sizable community of Greek settlers in Sudan at the time.
Reince Priebus attended Tremper High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin, graduating in 1990.
Reince Priebus then enrolled at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida.
Reince Priebus moved back to Wisconsin and became a member of the state bar.
Reince Priebus currently serves as president and chief strategist at Michael Best and is chairman of the Board of Advisors.
Reince Priebus ran for election to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2004, losing 52 to 48 percent, to the Democratic incumbent, Robert Wirch.
Reince Priebus worked to bring Wisconsin's Tea Party movement together with the mainstream Republican party organization and avoid conflict between the two.
Reince Priebus continued as state party chairman and general counsel to the RNC until 2010, when he stepped down as general counsel to run for election to chairman of the committee.
On December 5,2010, Reince Priebus stepped down as general counsel for the RNC.
On January 14,2011, after seven rounds of voting, Reince Priebus was elected chairman of the RNC.
At the start of his first term as chairman of the RNC in January 2011, Reince Priebus had inherited a $23 million debt from his predecessor Michael Steele, as well as severely strained relationships with "major donors".
Reince Priebus stated that his goals for his leadership were to reduce the debt, rebuild the organization's finances and improve relationships with major donors and party leaders, as well as aiding Republican efforts in the 2012 presidential election.
Reince Priebus aimed to develop a strong voter mobilization program, including improved voter registration and absentee ballot programs to identify unregistered voters and those who had not returned their ballots, using funds raised through his initial outreach to major donors.
Reince Priebus appeared on such political talk shows as Meet the Press, Face the Nation, Fox News Sunday, and State of the Union with Candy Crowley.
Reince Priebus continued to focus on rebuilding the RNC's finances by reaching out to donors, and at the end of the year the organization reported no debt.
Reince Priebus began development of a political plan including a long-term strategy to reach demographic groups that had voted mainly Democratic in the November 2012 elections.
On January 25,2013, Reince Priebus was elected to serve another term.
Reince Priebus ran unopposed, and 166 of the 168 RNC members voted to re-elect him.
On March 18,2013, Reince Priebus presented the completed Growth and Opportunity Project report developed from a listening tour and four-month analysis carried out by Reince Priebus and Republican strategists including Ari Fleischer, Henry Barbour, Sally Bradshaw, Zori Fonalledas and Glenn McCall.
In September 2013, Reince Priebus was successful in persuading both CNN and NBC News to cancel planned biopics of Hillary Clinton, which had been criticized as "free campaigning on Clinton's behalf", according to columnist Jennifer Rubin.
Reince Priebus stated that the networks would not be allowed to moderate a Republican primary debate if the films went ahead.
Also following the Growth and Opportunity Project report, Reince Priebus led efforts to reach out to black, Latino and Asian American voters.
On January 16,2015, Reince Priebus was re-elected to a third term on a near-unanimous vote.
Reince Priebus showed concerns that an NBC-hosted debate could result in a "repeat" of the CNBC debate, as both are divisions of NBCUniversal, although NBC News is editorially separate from CNBC.
Reince Priebus remained in the White House "for a couple weeks" and assisted Kelly with transitioning into his new role as chief of staff.
Reince Priebus commissioned in the Navy Reserve as a human resources officer through its direct commission officer program and was attached to the Navy Operational Support Center in Washington, DC He was sworn in by vice president Mike Pence on June 10,2019.
Reince Priebus noted his call to serve came after meeting with the wife and children of senior chief petty officer William Owens, a Navy SEAL who was killed early in the administration in a special operations raid in Yemen.
On February 11,2020, Trump announced his intent to nominate and appoint Reince Priebus to be a Member on the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.
Reince Priebus was the chairman of the host committee for the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Reince Priebus has been mentioned as a potential candidate for office in Wisconsin on multiple occasions, including during the 2022 gubernatorial race and 2024 US Senate race.
In 1999, Priebus married Sally L Sherrow, whom he met in church when they were teenagers.