She had a direct line to the president, and now she’s exiting the White House.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is reportedly handing over her role as a senior official with the Biden administration to return to Georgia.
According to an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lance Bottoms shared that she is ready to get back to her family and focus on her future.
After serving as mayor from 2018–2021, Lance Bottoms replaced former Louisiana congressman and Biden’s first Office of Public Engagement director, Cedric Richmond
, in 2022. In her role, she focused on maintaining equity as part of Biden’s political agenda and served as a public face of the administration.“I was proud to bring a different voice and a different face to the White House: A voice from the South, an African-American woman in this White House. It was extraordinary,” Bottoms said. “Sitting across from the president in the Oval Office, he knew that whatever my response was, I was speaking for so many people.”
“I have leaned on Keisha as a close advisor with exceptional instincts, and I am grateful to her for serving our nation with honor and integrity,” Biden said. “I wish her the best as she returns home to Atlanta to be with her family.”
In 2021, Biden held a fundraiser for Lance Bottoms before her announcement to decline to run for a second term.
“We have opened up the doors to thousands of people to engage with the White House in a meaningful way,” she said. “That’s what I’m really proud of. We have been able to hear from voices of a cross-section of people.”
Lance Bottoms shared that she will continue her work with public policy and is keeping her options open regarding a return to public office.
“Never say never. I said that when I left the mayor’s office. Stay tuned,” Lance Bottoms said.
President Joe Biden announced Monday that Steven Benjamin, the former mayor of Columbia, S.C., will start in Lance Bottoms’ position as a senior adviser and Director of the Office of Public Engagement in April.