doi:10.7916/e8y0-wp68Oral history interview with Jennifer Palmieri, 2021Palmieri, Jenniferoral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesSandy Hook Elementary School Massacre, Newtown, Conn., 2012Women--Political activity--United StatesCommunication policy--United StatesPalmieri, JenniferObama, BarackMartin, Trayvon, 1995-2012Zimmerman, George, 1983-Center for American ProgressUnited States. My Brother's Keeper Task ForceJennifer Palmieri discusses her contribution to the communications strategy of the Obama administration, in which she served as deputy director of communications from 2011 to 2013 and director of communications from 2013 to 2015. Palmieri outlines the challenges associated with communicating effectively amid changes in the media landscape, describes the evolution of the Obama administration's relations with the press, and provides details about the administration's approach to communications around major events and initiatives, including the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the killing of Trayvon Martin and the trial of George Zimmerman, and congressional negotiations over the debt ceiling and fiscal cliff. She also reflects on the role of women in the Obama White House and the diversity of the administration's personnel, and on major themes related to presidential communications, including the difficulty of effectively translating complex and technical issues into accessible formats, responding to the asymmetric polarization of domestic politics, and deciding whether Obama ought to speak about a particular event. Also discussed are the development of the My Brother's Keeper initiative, the obstructionism of the Republican Party, the administration's relations with conservative media outlets, Obama's solicitation of alternative viewpoints from his advisors, and the relation of the Center for American Progress to the Democratic Party