Doug Hattaway
Encyclopedia
Doug Hattaway is President and CEO of Hattaway Communications, Inc., a strategic communications firm. As an American
communications consultant and spokesperson he has served dozens of major organizations, political campaigns, and government leaders in the U.S. and around the world. Hattaway was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential run, as well as Al Gore
’s spokesman during the 2000 election. His calming presence on the campaign trail in 2008 and his prominent role during the Florida election recount
– “the political story of the century” – have gained him much attention, and he has been named "an important figure in politics" by the website Who Runs Gov.
Hattaway has appeared frequently as a public affairs analyst and commentator on CNN
, MSNBC
and the Fox News Channel
.
’s Medill School of Journalism
in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a major in Political Science. He received his Master of Arts in English from Florida State University
. While pursuing his graduate degree he taught a Theater in London course at the TASIS American School in Surrey, England.
From 1986-89, Hattaway was press secretary to Representative Andy Ireland
(R-FL), who had been elected in 1973 as a Democrat, but switched parties in 1984. Hattaway worked for Rep. Ireland when he was a member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees
and co-chair of the Defense Burden Sharing Panel, which examined U.S. defense policy in Europe.
During the 1990s, he worked as a freelance correspondent, writing about politics, economics and environmental issues in South
and Central America
, Northern Ireland
, and the Caribbean
.
Hattaway served as press secretary for New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen
(D), now a senator from that state, from 1997 to 1999.
In 2000, Hattaway became the New Hampshire spokesman for the Al Gore's presidential campaign
during the primary against Senator Bill Bradley
. He was then promoted to become the campaign’s national spokesman. He became the campaign’s primary voice during the Florida recount
. After a controversial Supreme Court decision halted the recount, Hattaway told the New York Times, “If you count the voter’s intent, Gore wins. If you look for excuses not to count votes, Bush does better.”
After the 2000 election, Hattaway went to the Hill to fill in for then-Senate Democratic Leader Daschle
’s full-time communications director. He took charge the day before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was still in the position when Senator Daschle’s Washington, D.C., office received a piece of mail containing anthrax
. Hattaway told PR Week, “I thought I had a good crisis communications experience after the Florida recount. Now I’ve got September 11 and anthrax. It’s not the kind of crisis management experience you want.”
He has lectured at a wide variety of institutions including: Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
and Business School
, Cornell University
, Miami University
, Emerson College
, American Society of Political Consultants, Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, Progress (United Kingdom) and Democrats Abroad.
In 2002, he chaired a conference for government communications officers entitled, “Reinventing Media Relations for Government Post 9/11,” sponsored by the American Conference Institute.
during the Democratic primary. The firm provided message development and media coverage analysis to determine how the candidate’s messages were breaking through in media coverage. During the general election, the firm ran an independent issue advertising campaign for a group called the Winning Messages Project, and won a Pollie award for high-impact advertising. Other political clients included Jeanne Shaheen for U.S. Senate (2008)
, Deval Patrick for Governor of Massachusetts (2006)
and Al Gore for President (2000)
.
, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
, Common Cause
, Americans for Gun Safety
, Third Way and Center for American Progress
.
, Ford Foundation
and other top philanthropic institutions.
, a union of Caribbean nations, the firm conducted public opinion research and developed a communications strategy to build public support for a common market.
(NDI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide. He managed communications for the NDI/Carter Center election observer delegation for the 2006 parliamentary election in the Palestinian territories. He also provided training and consulting services for NDI programs in North Africa
and the Middle East
.
In 2004, he managed communications for NDI's Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World, which convened delegates from predominantly Muslim countries in Africa
, Asia
, Europe
and the Middle East
to address the challenges that face the movement toward democratic reform.
As Press Secretary to New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen
(1997–99), he helped plan and lead the first trade mission ever undertaken by a New Hampshire Governor.
Hattaway has also provided communications services to international research centers affiliated with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which work to achieve sustainable food security and reduce poverty in developing countries.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
communications consultant and spokesperson he has served dozens of major organizations, political campaigns, and government leaders in the U.S. and around the world. Hattaway was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential run, as well as Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
’s spokesman during the 2000 election. His calming presence on the campaign trail in 2008 and his prominent role during the Florida election recount
Florida election recount
The Florida election recount of 2000 was a period of vote re-counting that occurred following the unclear results of the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, specifically the Florida results. The election was ultimately settled in favor of George W. Bush when...
– “the political story of the century” – have gained him much attention, and he has been named "an important figure in politics" by the website Who Runs Gov.
Hattaway has appeared frequently as a public affairs analyst and commentator on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
and the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
.
Biography
Hattaway graduated from Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
’s Medill School of Journalism
Medill School of Journalism
The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University which offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It has consistently been one of the top-ranked schools in Journalism in the United States...
in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a major in Political Science. He received his Master of Arts in English from Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
. While pursuing his graduate degree he taught a Theater in London course at the TASIS American School in Surrey, England.
From 1986-89, Hattaway was press secretary to Representative Andy Ireland
Andy Ireland
Andrew Poysell "Andy" Ireland was a U.S. Representative from Florida.Born to a wealthy family in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended a prestigious private school within the city. He finished his high school career at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, a school that is known as a stepping stone...
(R-FL), who had been elected in 1973 as a Democrat, but switched parties in 1984. Hattaway worked for Rep. Ireland when he was a member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees
United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Mike Rogers. It is the primary committee in the U.S...
and co-chair of the Defense Burden Sharing Panel, which examined U.S. defense policy in Europe.
During the 1990s, he worked as a freelance correspondent, writing about politics, economics and environmental issues in South
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
.
Hattaway served as press secretary for New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen
Jeanne Shaheen
Jeanne Shaheen is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and the Senior United States Senator from New Hampshire. The first woman in U.S. history to be elected as both a Governor and U.S. Senator, she was the first woman to be elected Governor of New Hampshire, serving from...
(D), now a senator from that state, from 1997 to 1999.
In 2000, Hattaway became the New Hampshire spokesman for the Al Gore's presidential campaign
Al Gore presidential campaign, 2000
Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Carthage, Tennessee on June 16, 1999. Gore became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2000 presidential election on August 17, 2000...
during the primary against Senator Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
. He was then promoted to become the campaign’s national spokesman. He became the campaign’s primary voice during the Florida recount
Florida election recount
The Florida election recount of 2000 was a period of vote re-counting that occurred following the unclear results of the 2000 United States presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, specifically the Florida results. The election was ultimately settled in favor of George W. Bush when...
. After a controversial Supreme Court decision halted the recount, Hattaway told the New York Times, “If you count the voter’s intent, Gore wins. If you look for excuses not to count votes, Bush does better.”
After the 2000 election, Hattaway went to the Hill to fill in for then-Senate Democratic Leader Daschle
Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
’s full-time communications director. He took charge the day before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was still in the position when Senator Daschle’s Washington, D.C., office received a piece of mail containing anthrax
2001 anthrax attacks
The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, also known as Amerithrax from its Federal Bureau of Investigation case name, occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on Tuesday, September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 attacks. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to...
. Hattaway told PR Week, “I thought I had a good crisis communications experience after the Florida recount. Now I’ve got September 11 and anthrax. It’s not the kind of crisis management experience you want.”
He has lectured at a wide variety of institutions including: Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
and Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
, Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
, Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
, American Society of Political Consultants, Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, Progress (United Kingdom) and Democrats Abroad.
In 2002, he chaired a conference for government communications officers entitled, “Reinventing Media Relations for Government Post 9/11,” sponsored by the American Conference Institute.
Hattaway Communications
As founder and President of a global strategic communications firm, Hattaway Communications, Inc., Hattaway has worked with clients around the world in a broad range of fields. The firm, according to its website, employs tools and techniques used in marketing, political communications, digital media and grassroots organizing. It offers a wide range of products and services in five categories: research, strategy, message, communications and evaluation. The firm works with clients in diverse fields, including politics, government, non-profit, advocacy, business and philanthropy. The firm was founded in Boston and opened its Washington office in 2010.Politics
In 2008, the firm worked closely with Hillary Clinton’s campaign for PresidentHillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2008
New York junior Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had expressed interest in the 2008 United States presidential election since at least October 2002, drawing media speculation on whether she would become a candidate. No woman has ever won the nomination of a major party in the...
during the Democratic primary. The firm provided message development and media coverage analysis to determine how the candidate’s messages were breaking through in media coverage. During the general election, the firm ran an independent issue advertising campaign for a group called the Winning Messages Project, and won a Pollie award for high-impact advertising. Other political clients included Jeanne Shaheen for U.S. Senate (2008)
Jeanne Shaheen
Jeanne Shaheen is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and the Senior United States Senator from New Hampshire. The first woman in U.S. history to be elected as both a Governor and U.S. Senator, she was the first woman to be elected Governor of New Hampshire, serving from...
, Deval Patrick for Governor of Massachusetts (2006)
Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton...
and Al Gore for President (2000)
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
.
Non-profit and Advocacy
During the high-profile debate regarding same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts, Hattaway Communications managed message R&D and advertising for the state’s largest grassroots advocacy organization, MassEquality. Media reports highlighted the firm’s advertising as a key ingredient in the successful campaign. The firm has been engaged in a number of high-profile policy issues with national organizations, such as the Human Rights CampaignHuman Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters...
, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
, Common Cause
Common Cause
Common Cause is a self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit lobby and advocacy organization. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican former cabinet secretary under Lyndon Johnson, as a "citizens' lobby" with a mission focused on making U.S. political institutions more open and...
, Americans for Gun Safety
Americans for Gun Safety Foundation
The Americans for Gun Safety Foundation was an organization whose stated purpose is to promote gun safety training; promote restrictive gun laws; restrict gun rights; and reduce gun crime...
, Third Way and Center for American Progress
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...
.
Energy and Environment
Hattaway Communications quickly gained recognition as one of the leading public affairs and strategic communications firms serving the emerging clean energy sector in the Northeast. For the New England Clean Energy Council, an association of business and investment leaders, the firm developed a strategy to brand New England as a leader in clean energy innovation.Philanthropic
Hattaway Communications has an active philanthropic practice with products and services specifically designed to serve foundations and their grantees. The firm has worked with some of the biggest names in philanthropy, including the Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It is "driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family"...
, Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
and other top philanthropic institutions.
International
Hattaway Communications has worked with political parties, government leaders, multilateral institutions and nongovernmental organizations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Middle East. For CARICOMCaribbean Community
The Caribbean Community is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy...
, a union of Caribbean nations, the firm conducted public opinion research and developed a communications strategy to build public support for a common market.
International Affairs
Hattaway has worked extensively with the National Democratic Institute for International AffairsNational Democratic Institute for International Affairs
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs is an organization created by the United States government by way of the National Endowment for Democracy to channel grants for furthering democracy in developing nations. It was founded in 1983, shortly after the U.S. Congress created...
(NDI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide. He managed communications for the NDI/Carter Center election observer delegation for the 2006 parliamentary election in the Palestinian territories. He also provided training and consulting services for NDI programs in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
In 2004, he managed communications for NDI's Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World, which convened delegates from predominantly Muslim countries in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
to address the challenges that face the movement toward democratic reform.
As Press Secretary to New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen
Jeanne Shaheen
Jeanne Shaheen is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and the Senior United States Senator from New Hampshire. The first woman in U.S. history to be elected as both a Governor and U.S. Senator, she was the first woman to be elected Governor of New Hampshire, serving from...
(1997–99), he helped plan and lead the first trade mission ever undertaken by a New Hampshire Governor.
Hattaway has also provided communications services to international research centers affiliated with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which work to achieve sustainable food security and reduce poverty in developing countries.