Robert Gibbs Leaving Job as White House Press Secretary
Updated 1:29 p.m. Eastern Time
Robert Gibbs is leaving his job as White House Press Secretary.
At his daily briefing Wednesday afternoon, Gibbs said serving as press secretary over the past two years has been the "opportunity of a lifetime, one that I will be forever thankful and grateful for."
"this was not an easy decision, but I think it was a very natural time period to make the decision to recharge a little bit," said Gibbs, who first went to work for Barack Obama back in 2004.
Gibbs signaled that he had become burned out by the long hours and pressure of working in Washington.
"This doesn't stop," he said in describing his life in the White House. "Only rarely does it observe holidays like Christmas, and sometimes not even that. This is a tough place to work."
President Barack Obama's top spokesman Robert Gibbs speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 5, 2011.
/ JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty ImagesStill, Gibbs said, it had been an "amazing privilege" to work in the White House.
"I would not trade the worst day I've had here for many of the best days you might have in another job," he said.
Gibbs, who is 39, told CBS News Wednesday morning he plans to leave in early February -- shortly after President Obama's State of the Union Address in late January. A decision on a successor is expected within weeks.
Gibbs plans to give speeches upon leaving his post, and his income is likely to skyrocket upon leaving public service. White he is technically leaving the White House, he will remain close, and plans to serve as an outside adviser to the administration and to Mr. Obama's reelection campaign.
Getty
The president told the New York Times in an interview Wednesday morning that Gibbs will continue to be a close adviser and "will continue to shape the dialogue politically for many years to come."
In a statement, Mr. Obama hailed Gibbs' service.
"For the last six years, Robert has been a close friend, one of my closest advisers and an effective advocate from the podium for what this administration has been doing to move America forward," he said. "I think it's natural for him to want to step back, reflect and retool. That brings up some challenges and opportunities for the White House - but it doesn't change the important role that Robert will continue to play on our team."
Leading candidates to include Gibbs include Burton as well as John Earnest, another Gibbs deputy, and Jay Carney, a spokesman to Vice President Joe Biden.
Gibbs' announcement comes amid a reshuffling of White House staff midway through the president's term. Mr. Obama is now considering successors to former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who left the White House to run for mayor of Chicago. He is widely believed to have narrowed his shortlist down to two: current interim chief of staff Pete Rouse and former Commerce Secretary William Daley.
Robert Gibbs addresses the White House press corps on the day he announced he is leaving the White House, January 5, 2010.
/ CBS/Mark KnollerThe president is also considering a replacement to Lawrence Summers, the director of the National Economic Council and a top economic adviser, who is returning to Harvard University after two years in the White House. The top candidate for the post is believed to be Treasury adviser Gene Sperling, a former Goldman Sachs consultant who led the NEC in the Clinton administration.
Despite the insider candidates for those jobs -- as well as his own -- Gibbs said at the briefing Wednesday that it was important to get outside perspectives in the White House, arguing that it is beneficial to bring in people "who haven't been here, who have been able to watch a little bit from the outside."
"You have to admit there's a bubble in here to some degree," said Gibbs.
Reflecting on his time in Washington, Gibbs called it "an honor and a privilege to stand here, to work inside this building, to serve your country, to work for a president that I admire as much as President Barack Obama."
He added: "One of the things you learn very quickly, as you walk into this building each day -- you're struck by the sense of the history of this place, and you realize that, whatever your length of service here, it is temporary in the long and wonderful history of our country."
See Gibbs discuss his plans after he leaves the White House:
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murdoch, they had complete control from 08 to present they had the majority for four years, the six years during Bush's and going back to clinton the republicans never had the super majority the dems had. In other words up until 08 it required votes from both sides of the isle to create and pass legislation, that's why the blame the republacans only game is completely false.
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1999 Republican majorities in House and Senate inaugurated.
2000 Supreme Court gives Bush Presidency.
2001 Inauguration of GWB and total Republican control of Executive and Legislative Branches.
2004 Bush maintains power (likely people voted for him again because we were in the middle of two of his wars, and a lot of people were still into the evangelical thing).
2006 Reps trounced, Dems gain majorities in House and Senate.
2007 Dems inaugurated, but have Bush veto pen and thus limited power - the lame duck session.
2008 Obama landslide victory.
2009 Obama inaugurated, Dems control Legislative and Executive branches.
2010 Early in the year, Dems lose filibuster-proof majority (a Senator died and wasn't replaced so Dems only had 59 votes - not enough to prevent record filibusters by Reps). Later in the year, Reps gain a substantial number of seats and majority in House, but fail to get majority in Senate.
2011 Reps inaugurated and the future is to be written, although don't expect much to change since early 2010 because the house will stall a lot and little legislation will get passed.
Clear as mud? So for review: Dems controlled the Legislative and Executive branches from Jan 2009 to early 2010. A little over a year, not a whole lot of time to do what they wanted to do, it is sort of amazing they got HCR passed at all. On the other hand, Reps controlled both branches and had a right-leaning Supreme Court from Jan 2001 to Jan 2007. So, Reps had 6 years of control when they set the stage for a financial collapse, and Dems had 1 years of control where they got HCR passed.
chevyhotrod, do you see the distain they have for the Constitution ? now daring to read exactly what they are swearing oath to, is considered "a huge political stunt" by people like MurderSucks.
Pardon us, what would they prefer we read aloud, the Communist Manifesto by their mentor Karl Marx ??
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"Disdain" for the Constitution? On the contrary, my friend. However, I see this as political grandstanding from the party trying to project some aspect of patriotism. They should just read the book of Revelations along with the Constitution, that will really show their support for their base.
WH collapsing
Get out of dodge
party thrown out
leave immediately
Perhaps, but I know where mine is from. I am angry that the GOP drove our economy into the toilet and yet they get rewarded by morons re-electing them. That's called insanity.>>>>>>>
You have to look deep into yourself , Sucks, and understand that you, like so many other disappointed libs, are angry that you supported a lying, conniving, anti-American empty suit. But instead of admitting your mistake, you vent your anger at those who try to help you discover the truth about America, what is should be, what is cannot be with these dems in control. Open your eyes and go where the clear majority of Americans will go with you, if you let them show you the light of day.
LOL!
Another professional liar Baghdad Bob Gibbs is leaving. Between this and the reading of the U.S. Constitution on the House Floor, not a good day for Obama and his followers.......
The Republicans overreached constitutional governmental powers because GWB thought he was God. The Republicans are feeding the military industrial complex with huge amounts of our tax dollars. America is about freedom and liberty, something that the fascist republicans are going to help erode through deregulation.
You tout individual responsibility, but you would likely support Medicare and Social Security for retirees living 30 years on the system that was not intended to support people that long. Republicans aren't going to raise the SS eligibility to its rightful age of 85. That would be fiscally responsible, but that isn't popular.
The truth is you baggers had the whole pulled over your eyes. Prepare for another round of horrible policies the likes of which would make 1998-2006 policies seem like sensible, responsible and rational, which clearly they were not.
Wake up from your haze.