Neera Tanden reflects on her career in American public policy, and discusses her service as a senior advisor to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius during the first year of the Obama presidency. Tanden recounts the development of her interests in politics and public policy, describes her work in the Clinton White House and long-time service as a staffer to Hillary Clinton , and shares memories from her work on Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign in the Democratic Party presidential primaries and on Barack Obama's campaign in the 2008 general election. In the Obama administration, Tanden focused on the administration's healthcare reform effort, and she provides details about major issues and events relevant to the process that culminated in the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the development and politics of a public insurance option; controversies surrounding the reproductive healthcare provisions of the legislation; the coordination of interagency policy development work; the need for broad stakeholder support for the effort; the legislative history of the ACA and the congressional politics surrounding the bill; Obama's personal involvement in the details of healthcare reform; and lessons from the Clinton administration's pursuit of healthcare reform. After leaving the Obama administration, Tanden returned to the Center for American Progress (CAP), and she speaks widely about the role of CAP in the defense of the ACA; the relationship between CAP and the Obama White House; and CAP's distinctiveness from other progressive think tanks and advocacy organizations. Also discussed are Tanden's experience moving between the Clinton and Obama campaigns in 2008; the distribution of policymaking responsibility between HHS and the White House Office of Health Reform; and the politics surrounding the ACA after its passage and implementation
Presidents--United States; Health care reform--United States; Reproductive health services--Law and legislation--United States; Tanden, Neera, 1970-; Obama, Barack; Clinton, Hillary Rodham; Center for American Progress; United States. Department of Health and Human Services; United States; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
51 pages
Note (Biographical)
Neera Tanden is an American public servant, political advisor, policy expert, and think tank executive. Tanden held a variety of policy-related positions in the Clinton administration, and served as policy director and deputy campaign manager for Hill ary Clinton's 2000 campaign for the U.S. Senate in New York. She served in Clinton's U.S. Senate office, and was policy director for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. After Barack Obama secured the Democratic Party nomination, she joined the Obama campaign as a domestic policy advisor. In the first year of the Obama presidency, Tanden served as senior advisor to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, focused on healthcare reform. Tanden then left the administration for the Center for American Progress, of which she became president in 2011. At the time of the interview, Tanden was the White House staff secretary and senior advisor to President Biden
Note
Interviewed by Nicole R. Hemmer on March 11 and April 27, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Neera Tanden, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023