Claude Allen

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Claude Allen bigraphy, stories - Assistant to the President of the United States for Domestic Policy in George W. Bush's White House

Claude Allen : biography

October 11, 1960 –

Claude Alexander Allen (born October 11, 1960) is an American attorney who was the Assistant to the President of the United States for Domestic Policy in George W. Bush’s White House and a withdrawn Bush judicial nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Allen grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University School of Law. He began his legal career in 1990 as a clerk for a federal judge, then was an associate with Baker Botts from 1991 to 1995 and the office of the Attorney General of Virginia from 1995 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001 Allen served as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the state of Virginia, and Allen became Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the George W. Bush administration.

The African-American Republican was appointed to his White House position in January 2005. Allen resigned February 9, 2006, stating he wanted to spend more time with his family. On March 10, 2006, news broke that Allen had been repeatedly stealing from retail stores Target and Hecht’s by engaging in a personal refund scheme. Allen was cited by police for shoplifting on January 2, 2006, which triggered an investigation that resulted in Allen’s arrest on felony counts of theft on March 9, 2006.] – March 10, 2006 ] On August 4, 2006, as part of a plea bargain, Allen pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of theft.Londono, Ernesto. "Ex-Aide to Bush Pleads Guilty," Washington Post. August 5, 2006.

Early life and education

Allen, a native of Philadelphia, grew up in a two-bedroom apartment in a working-class section of northwest Washington, D.C. He attended Archbishop Carroll High School, a Roman Catholic school. His mother worked part-time at a Catholic school; his father worked for a plumbing supply business. In a television interview, Allen said "Probably the vast majority of the kids who grew up in our neighborhood were either strung out on drugs or in jail or dead."

Allen has a twin brother named Floyd.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/14/politics/14allen.html?_r=0http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5261738

In 1982, Allen graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A.

Personal life

Allen, a longtime evangelical Christian, is married to Jannese Mitchell Allen, and is the father of four children; including Claude Allen III, Lila-Cjoan Allen and Christian Isaiah Allen.http://2001-2009.state.gov/g/oes/rls/13013.htmhttp://csis.org/files/media/csis/events/020225_agenda.pdf The Allens are active members of the Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg.

Career after college

Allen grew up in a Democratic household, but he took a job after college as press secretary for Bill Cobey, a Republican Congressional candidate in North Carolina. He switched parties, saying later, in an interview, "I realized after the fact that I agree more with the Republican Party platform, that it talked about independence, that it talked about individual responsibility, individual rights, it talked about the ability to guarantee opportunities, not outcomes."

Allen subsequently began working for Republican Senator Jesse Helms, of North Carolina; he was Helms’ campaign spokesman in 1984. From 1985 to 1987, Allen was a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Law degree and subsequent career

Allen returned to school in 1987. He graduated from Duke University School of Law with a J.D. in 1990.

From 1990 to 1991, Allen was a law clerk for David B. Sentelle, a judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, famous for his role in the Whitewater investigation. Allen met and became a protege of Clarence Thomas, who was a judge on that court at the time Allen was clerking there.

After his clerkship, Allen became an associate at Baker Botts in Washington, D.C., from 1991 to 1995. He then served in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office from 1995 to 1998, before becoming Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia.