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Ari Fleischer (born October 13, 1960) was the White House press secretary for U.S. President George W. Bush from January 2001 to July 2003.
Fleischer was born in Pound Ridge, New York. He graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont in 1982. He worked as press secretary for Congressman Norman Lent. Fleischer was Senator Pete Domenici's press secretary from 1989 to 1994. He served as spokesman for the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee for 5 years. Later, he was deputy communications director for George H. W. Bush's 1992 reelection campaign, then communications director for Elizabeth Dole. He joined George W. Bush's Presidential Campaign in 1999.
He first introduced a new phrase homicide bombing for denotating suicide bombing on April 12, 2002 to bring a negative connotation of the bombing.
- The president ... convened a meeting of the National Security Council, at which point, in the middle of the meeting, the president was informed about this morning's homicide bombing in Jerusalem. ... The Saudi telethon, as they have told it to us, is to provide assistance to the Palestinian people, and that isn't — no money is going to go to provide the homicide bombers with any assistance from the Saudi government.
- --Ari Fleischer, "White House Regular Briefing," Federal News Service, April 12, 2002
Fleischer imparted controversy on more than one occasion while working at the White House. Partially, this is due to serving under a controversial president, and also partly due to the fact that anyone speaking in front of reporters for extended periods of time will eventually make mistakes. He drew some of the greatest ire for criticizing individuals that the administration felt were making unpatriotic remarks.
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