About American Maggie
Founded in September 2009, American Maggie is an interactive website for conservative and Republican women to share their views online about politics and public policy. By balancing writings from well established women in politics with fresh, new voices of young women, the ideas and commentary on the site will broaden the political debate and present a unique voice on the Right.
The idea of American Maggie grew out of the well-established belief that the Republican Party is in need of new ideas, new voices, and new types of candidates. As such, American Maggie is an open platform that encourages submissions and contributions from women of all backgrounds. The content will feature articles on timely political and public policy topics ranging from economic policy and national security to energy and education.
American Maggie will be a valuable resource for both men and women in the general public, elected officials, thought leaders, policymakers and public officials.
American Maggie is an online platform for conservative and Republican women to share innovative political and public policy ideas and commentary. Foremost, American Maggie supports the free exchange of ideas and encourages open political discourse.
Why We Are Named American Maggie?
American Maggie is a reference to conservative female icon Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who shattered gender barriers, and fundamentally changed the nature of conservatism in our time. The Iron Lady’s nickname “Maggie” is also a lighthearted play on the word “magazine” as American Maggie seeks to be a well-read online political magazine.
Elise M. Stefanik , President and Founder
Elise M. Stefanik is the President and Founder of American Maggie. Stefanik most recently served in the White House Office of the Chief of Staff assisting the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Chief of Staff in overseeing and coordinating the West Wing domestic and economic policy development process. Previously, she worked on the President’s Domestic Policy Council to help coordinate policy positions on education, housing, veterans’ care, law enforcement and immigration. Prior to her work in the West Wing, Stefanik worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. In 2005, Stefanik served as a Fellow for the Foundation of Defense of Democracy.
Stefanik graduated from Harvard University with honors in 2006. In 2006, she was one of three undergraduate women recognized by the Harvard College Women’s Leadership Award. While at Harvard, she served on the Student Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics where she founded the Women’s Initiative in Leadership and Politics program and chaired the National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement. As an undergraduate, Stefanik also served as an Editorial Editor of The Harvard Crimson and taught civics classes to elementary and middle school students in the greater Boston area.
Elise Stefanik originally hails from upstate New York where she worked on numerous political campaigns growing up.
Advisory Team:
Ed Gillespie
Ed Gillespie is one of the country’s top communications strategists with a long record of success in business, politics and government. He recently launched Ed Gillespie Strategies, a strategic consulting firm that provides high-level advice to companies and CEOs, coalitions, and trade associations.
Gillespie is also a founding board member of Resurgent Republic, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to informing the debate over the proper role of government. Through a steady stream of national polls and focus groups, Resurgent Republic helps policy makers, think tanks, interest groups and others advocate for policies that are consistent with conservative principles.
Gillespie was Counselor to the President in the last 18 months of the Bush Administration. During his service at the White House he helped handle a series of historic events that included the 2007 surge of US troops in Iraq, the response to the financial markets collapse in the Fall of 2008 and the peaceful transition of presidential power in 2009. More than a year before taking the Counselor title, Gillespie had led the successful Supreme Court confirmation efforts of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.
To accept the White House job in June 2007, Gillespie severed all ties to his bipartisan public affairs firm Quinn Gillespie and Associates (QGA), one of Washington, DC’s top ten government relations firms. During Gillespie’s seven years as its co-chairman, QGA’s clients achieved a string of high-stakes public relations and policy objectives.
A former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Gillespie in 2004 became the first GOP chairman in 80 years to preside over his party’s winning the White House, House and Senate. His aggressive outreach to African-American and Hispanic voters was a highlight of his tenure, and he was known for being an effective advocate on television and talk radio shows. The chairmanship was Gillespie’s third stint at the RNC. In 1996 he was a close aide to then-Chairman Haley Barbour (now governor of Mississippi). His first job was as a phoner in the basement of the party’s headquarters.
One of a small number of Americans to have had offices in the West Wing of the White House and within steps of the Dome of the US Capitol, Gillespie was a long-time aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. As policy and communications director for the House Republican Conference, he was a principal drafter of the Contract with America, the 1994 campaign platform on which Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. He edited the book version of Contract with America, which reached number two on the New York Times’ bestsellers list.
Ed Gillespie is the author of Winning Right: Campaign Politics and Conservative Policies, published by Simon and Schuster in Spring 2006. He is a popular public speaker represented by Leading Authorities speaker’s bureau.
Gillespie volunteers as General Chairman of Bob McDonnell’s campaign for the Virginia Governorship. He serves on the board of trustees of his alma mater, Catholic University of America. As a student at CUA, Gillespie got his first job on Capitol Hill—as a Senate parking lot attendant. He met Cathy, his wife of 21 years, on a congressional league softball team. They have three children: John (18), Carrie (15) and Mollie (12) and live near the historic Mt. Vernon Mansion in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Dana Perino
Dana Perino was White House Press Secretary from September, 2007 to January, 2009 and before that Deputy Press Secretary. ? ?After the 9/11 attacks, Perino served as a spokesperson for the Department of Justice. She later worked as director of communications at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) where she provided strategic counsel on message development, media relations, and public outreach for CEQ and its chairman. Perino worked with the President’s director of communications, his press secretary and his director of media affairs, handling all energy and environment-related media calls and serving as the spokesperson for the White House on environmental issues. In addition, she served as the coordinator for all agencies on environment, energy, and natural resource issues, reviewing and approving the agencies’ announcements and keeping the other White House offices apprised of CEQ actions.
Before joining the Bush administration, Perino covered the state assembly of Illinois as a television journalist and worked in the private sector in San Diego, including at Porter Novelli. She attended graduate school at the University of Illinois-Springfield, where she obtained her masters in public affairs reporting. She then worked in Washington, DC, for Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO) as a staff assistant before serving nearly four years as the press secretary for Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO), who then chaired a House Commerce subcommittee on Energy and Power.
Christie Todd Whitman
Christine Todd Whitman is the President of The Whitman Strategy Group (WSG), a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environmental issues. WSG offers a comprehensive set of solutions to problems facing businesses, organizations, and governments; they have been at the forefront of helping leading companies find innovative solutions to environmental challenges. ? ?She is also co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council (RLC), which she founded with Senator John Danforth and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. The RLC’s mission is to support fiscally conservative, socially tolerant candidates and to reclaim the word Republican. The RLC was created in March of 2007 by joining forces with Governor Whitman’s political action committee, It’s My Party Too. She is the author of a New York Times best seller by the same name, which was published in January of 2005 and released in paperback in March 2006.
Governor Whitman served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. She was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001.
As Governor, Christie Whitman earned praise from both Republicans and Democrats for her commitment to preserve a record amount of New Jersey land as permanent green space. She was also recognized by the Natural Resources Defense Council for instituting the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the nation. As EPA Administrator, she promoted common-sense environmental improvements such as watershed-based water protection policies. She championed regulations requiring nonroad diesel engines to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 95 percent. She also established the first federal program to promote redevelopment and reuse of “brownfields”, that is, previously contaminated industrial sites. ? ?Although she no longer holds public office, Governor Whitman continues to serve the citizens of the United States. Governor Whitman is Co-Chairman of the National Smart Growth Council; serves on the Steering Committee of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey; the Board of Trustees of the Eisenhower Fellowships; the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Governing Board of the Park City Center for Public Policy; and is a member of the board of the New America Foundation. She was also the Co-Chair for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Task Force, More Than Humanitarianism: A Strategic U.S. Approach Toward Africa.
Governor Whitman also serves on the Board of Directors of S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated, United Technologies Corporation and is a member of the Center for Civic Engagement and Volunteerism Advisory Board at Raritan Valley Community College. She currently serves as an advisor to the Aspen Rodel Fellowship program.
Prior to becoming Governor, she was the President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and served on the Somerset County board of Chosen Freeholders.
Governor Whitman holds a BA from Wheaton College in Norton, MA, and is married to John R. Whitman. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Anita McBride
Anita McBride served as Assistant to President George W. Bush and Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush from 2005 to 2009.
She directed the staff’s work on the wide variety of issues in which Mrs. Bush was involved — including education, global literacy, youth development, women’s rights and health, historic preservation and conservation, the arts, and global health issues including efforts to end pandemic diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Also under President George W. Bush, Mrs. McBride worked in the State Department as Senior Advisor in the Bureau of International Organizations and as White House Liaison. She also served as Special Assistant to the President for White House Management.
Mrs. McBride’s White House service spans two decades and three administrations. She joined the Reagan Administration in 1984, and from 1987 to 1992, she was Director of White House Personnel under Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush. She also served as Director of the Speakers Bureau at the United States Information Agency in 1992.
Mrs. McBride’s private sector experience includes service in corporate philanthropy and executive recruiting.
Mrs. McBride is a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, a historic public-private partnership between the U.S. and Afghan governments, Georgetown University, and private-sector institutions to help Afghanistan’s women rebuild their country and reclaim their place at the center of post-Taliban society.
Mrs. McBride served as a member of the U.S. delegations to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2002; the UN Commission on Human Rights in 2003; and the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS in 2006.
In January 2009, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for a term of three years.
Jennifer A. Nassour
Jennifer A. Nassour is the Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, elected to the post on January 27, 2009, by the Massachusetts Republican State Committee. A full-time chairman, Nassour leads a State Committee and professional staff in all aspects of the party’s operations, including fund raising, party building and communications.
Previously, Nassour served as a member of the State Committee representing the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex District. In addition, she was Of Counsel to the law firm Consigli & Brucato.
In addition to her law career, Nassour is an accomplished political and charitable fundraiser, experienced staffer in both the executive and legislative branches of state governments, and a veteran of Republican campaigns and causes. Nassour served as finance director for the 2002 Republican nominee for state treasurer and as a staff member in the Office of the Governor of Massachusetts. Previously, she served as a legislative aide in the New York State Senate, and as an aide, law clerk and chief of staff in the Nassau County, N.Y., legislature.
Nassour earned her juris doctor from St. John’s University School of Law in 2000. She also holds a master’s degree in political science from C.W. Post University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Nassour is active in the Junior League of Boston and the Charlestown Mother’s Association, as well as serving on the Bridgewater State College Board of Trustees. Nassour is a member of the Boston Bar Association, Massachusetts Bar Association, and the Woman’s Bar Association, and a former member of the Massachusetts Public Health Council.
Nassour and her huband, C.J. Brucato, live in Charlestown with their two daughters.
Mary Matalin
Mary Matalin’s experience in politics, public affairs, crisis management and media spans three decades and multiple venues.
Matalin has served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Most recently, she joined the Bush/Cheney administration in the first term as Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President. In that capacity, she preformed as senior advisor on major initiatives, including national security, homeland security, energy, economic growth and corporate governance policies. She oversaw the Vice President’s political and communications departments, advancing administration policies from the Middle East, Europe and across America to Capitol Hill.
Before joining the Bush/Cheney White House, Matalin hosted CNN’s critically acclaimed debate show, Crossfire. Matalin was also a former founding co-host of the Washington based CNBC political weeknight talk show, Equal Time.
Matalin and her husband James Carville, who was the chief campaign strategist for Clinton/Gore in 1992, co-authored the best-selling political campaign book All’s Fair: Love, War and Running for President
Her most recent book, Letters to My Daughters was named a Book of the Month Club selection as well as The New York Times and The Washington Post best-seller lists. Letters to My Daughters was also selected for a condensed version by Reader’s Digest.
Currently, Matalin is Editor-in-Chief of Threshold Editions, a conservative imprint at Simon & Schuster. In addition, Matalin sits on the board of directors of the Cheney Cardiovascular Institute, the Washington Humane Society and closer to home, the Bureau of Governmental Research in Louisiana. She also recently joined CNN in April of 2009 as a political contributor.
Matalin and her husband split time between their homes in Virginia and Louisiana with their daughters Matalin “Matty” Carville and Emerson “Emma” Carville and their 5 dogs, multiple cats and two birds.
The information on this website solely reflects the analysis of or opinion about politics and public policy by the writers whose articles appear on the site. The views expressed by the writers are not necessarily the views of American Maggie LLC or members of its Advisory Team.
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