Jacob Joseph Lew (born August 29, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 76th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as the 25th White House Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2013 and Director of the Office of Management and Budget in both the Clinton administration and Obama administration. Born in New York City, Lew earned his A.B. from Harvard College, then a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He began his legal career as a legislative assistant to Representative Joe Moakley, and as a senior policy adviser to former House Speaker Tip O'Neill. Lew then worked as an attorney in private practice before joining Boston's office of management and budget as a deputy. In 1993, he began work for the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President. In 1994, Lew served as Associate Director for Legislative Affairs and Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, then served as the agency's Director, from 1998 to 2001, then, again, from 2010 to 2012. Following his work in the Clinton administration, Lew became executive vice-president of operations at New York University, serving from 2001 to 2006, then the COO at Citigroup, from 2006 to 2008. During 2009 to 2010, Lew served as the first Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. On January 10, 2013, during President Barack Obama's second term, Lew was nominated to replace retiring Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was confirmed by the Senate February 27, 2013, and then sworn in on the following day, serving until the conclusion of the Obama administration. Lew was succeeded as Secretary of the Treasury by Steven Mnuchin. Since 2017, he has been a managing partner at Lindsay Goldberg, a private equity firm headquartered in New York City. He is currently a visiting professor at the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University.
