Jo Anne B. Barnhart
Encyclopedia
Jo Anne Barnhart was the 14th Commissioner of Social Security, filling a six-year term of office that ran through January 19, 2007.

Biography

She was nominated by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 on July 17, and confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 on November 2, 2001. On February 1, 2007, the Senate confirmed Michael J. Astrue
Michael J. Astrue
Michael James Astrue is an American lawyer and, under the pen name A. M. Juster, a poet and critic. He has served as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration since 2007.-Career:...

 to replace Mrs. Barnhart for a six-year term beginning on January 20, 2007.

As head of the Social Security Administration
Social Security Administration
The United States Social Security Administration is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits...

 (SSA), she was responsible for administering the Social Security programs (retirement, survivors and disability), as well as the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

During her term, the Social Security Administration provided financial protection to more than 158 million workers and their families, and more than 48 million Americans receive monthly Social Security retirement, disability or survivors benefits. The SSI program paid monthly benefits to more than 7 million Americans who have little or no resources and who are aged, blind or disabled.

Before her appointment by President Bush, Commissioner Barnhart served for more than four years as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board, an independent body created to advise the Congress on Social Security issues and policies.

A former SSA employee, Mrs. Barnhart worked in the Office of Family Assistance from 1981–1986, first as Deputy Associate Commissioner and then as Associate Commissioner. She served as minority staff director for the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs from 1986-1990. From 1990-1993, she served as Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing more than 65 programs, including Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

During her career, Mrs. Barnhart served as Senator William V. Roth, Jr.
William V. Roth, Jr.
William Victor "Bill" Roth, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party, who served as U.S. Representative and U.S...

’s legislative assistant (1977–1981) and as his campaign manager (1988, 1994 and 2000), she was political director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
National Republican Senatorial Committee
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is the Republican Hill committee for the United States Senate, working to elect Republicans to that body. The NRSC was founded in 1916 as the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee...

 (NRSC; 1995–1996) and managed her own political and public policy consulting firm.

A graduate of the University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

, Commissioner Barnhart was born in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

. She is now retired and lives in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

with her husband and son.

External links

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