Senior Advisor is a title used within the Executive Branch of the United States Government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 for various positions.

In the Executive Office of the President of the United States

Executive Office of the President of the United States

The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...

, the title has been used in two different capacities:

• In the George W. Bush administration
  George W. Bush administration
  The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
  
  , it was a formal position, first held by Karl Rove
  Karl Rove
  Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
  
   and then by Barry Steven Jackson
  Barry Steven Jackson
  Barry Steven Jackson is the current chief of staff to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner. He previously served as Senior Advisor to the President for George W. Bush.-Personal:...
  
  , in the Office of the Senior Advisor to the President. It had responsibility for the following four groups:
  • White House Office of Strategic Initiatives
    White House Office of Strategic Initiatives
    The White House Office of Strategic Initiatives is a staff unit within the Executive Office of the President of the United States established during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush immediately following the 2000 Presidential Election....
    
    
  • Intergovernmental Affairs
  • Political Affairs
  • Public Liaison
• In prior administrations, the position of "senior advisor" was a title used for various other purposes.

Numerous examples of the position also exist throughout the Executive Departments

United States Federal Executive Departments

The United States federal executive departments are among the oldest primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States—the Departments of State, War, and the Treasury all being established within a few weeks of each other in 1789.Federal executive...

 and in the branch's independent agencies

Independent agencies of the United States government

Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...

. For example, the FDA

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 includes a position called the Senior Advisor for Science. The Department of the Interior

United States Department of the Interior

The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...

 includes, for example, a Senior Advisor for Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

n Affairs.

The senior advisors to President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 are David Plouffe

David Plouffe

David Plouffe is an American political strategist best known as the chief campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign in the United States...

 and Valerie Jarrett

Valerie Jarrett

Valerie Bowman Jarrett is a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration. She is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader...

.

List of Senior Advisors to the President

Picture	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....  served under
	Karl Rove Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...	Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...	January 21, 2001	August 31, 2007	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....
	Barry Steven Jackson Barry Steven Jackson Barry Steven Jackson is the current chief of staff to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner. He previously served as Senior Advisor to the President for George W. Bush.-Personal:...	Ohio Ohio Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...	September 1, 2007	January 19, 2009	George W. Bush
	Pete Rouse Pete Rouse Peter Mikami Rouse is an American political consultant who served as White House Chief of Staff to U.S. President Barack Obama. Rouse has spent years on Capitol Hill, becoming known as the '101st senator' during his tenure as Chief of Staff to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle...	South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...	January 20, 2009	October 1, 2010	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
	David Axelrod David Axelrod David Axelrod may refer to:* David Axelrod * David Axelrod , Senior Advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama* David B. Axelrod , poet and educator...	Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...	January 20, 2009	January 10, 2011	Barack Obama
	Valerie Jarrett Valerie Jarrett Valerie Bowman Jarrett is a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration. She is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader...	Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...	January 20, 2009	present	Barack Obama
	David Plouffe David Plouffe David Plouffe is an American political strategist best known as the chief campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign in the United States...	Delaware Delaware Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...	January 10, 2011	present	Barack Obama