
Lawrence Ari Fleischer (13 October 1960-) was White House Press Secretary from 20 January 2001 to 15 July 2003, succeeding Jake Siewert and preceding Scott McClellan.
Biography[]
Lawrence Ari Fleischer was born in New York City, New York on 13 October 1960, and he was raised in a Jewish family of liberal Democrats. During his college years, he left the Democratic Party due to Jimmy Carter's presidency and became a Republican due to his support for Ronald Reagan, and he worked as press secretary for Republican politicians such as Joseph DioGuardi, Pete Domenici, and George H.W. Bush before working on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential bid and becoming his first White House Press Secretary. He coined the term "homicide bombing" to describe Palestinian suicide bombings during the Second Intifada, and he also helped to spread disinformation to justify the Iraq War, claiming that Iraq had a WMD program and that Saddam Hussein was an ally of al-Qaeda. In May 2003, he resigned in order to spend more time with his wife and work in the private sector, and he went on to found a consultancy firm and become a Fox News contributor in July 2017.