Bill Daley

William Michael “Bill” Daley is a husband, father, grandfather, civic and business leader and former top official in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Bill brings to his campaign for Mayor of Chicago a deep and personal attachment to the city’s neighborhoods and equally deep relationships in the business and civic community. As Mayor, Bill will work to reduce crime, strengthen neighborhoods, and keep Chicago affordable while addressing the city’s long-term finances and enhancing Chicago’s role as a global city and an economic engine for Illinois and the Midwest.

Bill Daley has worked in law, telecommunications, finance and government. Career highlights include serving as vice chairman and then President and CEO of Amalgamated Bank of Chicago. As Special Counsel to President Clinton, he helped pass the North American Free Trade Agreement. During this time, he also practiced law with the Chicago firm of Mayer, Brown and Platt.

Bill Daley was U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1997-2000. Among other things, Secretary Daley helped usher in the age of E-commerce, ran the 2000 census, expanded minority business development programs, and oversaw a wide range of economic initiatives during one of the strongest economic periods in American history, adding an estimated 23 million jobs. Daley stepped down to run Al Gore’s campaign for President in 2000.

Bill Daley became President of SBC Communications and later became Midwest Chairman of JPMorgan Chase overseeing the bank’s corporate responsibility program. In 2011, he served as President Obama’s White House Chief of Staff and helped shepherd into law three major trade agreements. During Bill’s tenure in the White House, the administration captured and killed Osama Bin Laden.

Most recently, Bill was managing partner in an investment firm and has stepped down in that role. He serves on the boards of the Chicago Community Trust, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Innovation Foundation, Third Way, and several corporate boards. He is also a founding board member of Advance Illinois, which has helped reform public education funding and improve schools.

Born in 1948 and raised in Chicago’s Bridgeport community, Bill is the youngest of seven children of Richard J. and Eleanor “Sis” Daley. He graduated from Loyola University Chicago and earned a law degree from John Marshall Law School. Bill is married to Bernadette Keller. He has four children. Today, his three adult children and three grand-daughters all live in Chicago. He is a lifelong Sox fan.