doi:10.7916/mnky-yc74Oral history interview with Elizabeth "Lisa" M. Brown, 2021Brown, Elizabethoral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesPresidents--Transition periods--United StatesIraq War, 2003-2011Health care reform--United StatesBrown, ElizabethObama, BarackUnited StatesAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009Elizabeth "Lisa" Brown reflects on her tenure as assistant to the president and staff secretary in the White House and co-director of agency review for the Obama-Biden transition project. She begins by identifying her experience as deputy counsel to Vice President Al Gore and in the American Constitution Society as the reason she was recruited to the Obama administration in 2008. She details her work on the transition from the Bush administration to the Obama administration and reviewing agencies with the Recovery Act, Iraq, and healthcare reform as priorities. She explains the organization of the West Wing and her role as staff secretary, the first acts of President Obama in January 2009, the digitization of White House communication, the process of advising the president, dynamics within government highlighting changes during President Obama's term, and the process of working with Congress to reorganize governmental agencies after the 2011 Government Reform for Competitiveness and Innovation memorandum. Brown also gives insight into President Obama's relation to the public through letters and the Presidential Citizens Medal, as well as the importance of acquiring support before attempting change and the potential of government to create it