A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

LESLIE T. THORNTON

CHIEF OF STAFF

Leslie T. Thornton is Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. Thornton advises and supports the Secretary on a variety of policy, management, and political matters and serves as the Department's chief legal adviser on administrative appeals. She has been frequently published on issues involving the department and its initiatives. Thornton also serves as the Secretary's principal representative with the White House and other executive branch agencies.

Thornton formerly served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Secretary since January l993, except for a two month period in the fall of 1996 when she left the department to advise and help prepare President Clinton for the 1996 Presidential Debates, as Deputy Adviser for Presidential Debates.

Prior to joining the department, Thornton held both legal and political positions. From 1992 to 1993, Thornton served as associate counsel in the Office of Presidential Transition and Vice Presidential Transition. In 1992, she was a member of the Clinton-Gore Crime and Drug Issues Task Force, the manager of the Alexandria, Virginia Clinton-Gore campaign headquarters, and legal counsel for the Alexandria Democratic Committee and Election-day Counsel.

Prior to joining the Clinton-Gore campaign, Thornton was a senior litigation associate for Brand and Lowell from l989 to l992, where she specialized in civil and criminal litigation, including extensive congressional representation and ethics advice. From 1987 to 1989, she was a litigation associate at Shea and Gardner, and from 1983 to 1987, she was a staff attorney with the Public Defender Service.

Thornton earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (1980) and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center (1983).