From LSUS to White House
2000 grad started as campaign worker, moved up
quickly to high-level aide in Administration

By Julianna Petchak
An education from LSUS can take you anywhere, even straight to the White House.
Reed Dickens, who graduated in 2000 with a B.A. in public relations, is now the assistant press secretary for President Bush. He is one of only eight people who travel with the president at all times.
One aspect of his job is always being ready to set up a press conference, no matter where the president is at the moment.
“He is always the president, 24 hours a day and seven days a week,” Dickens said. “So he must always be ready to speak to the people.”
After graduating from LSUS, Dickens moved to Austin, Texas, and began his career with the Bush campaign as a volunteer when his many letters to the headquarters failed to get him a paid job. After volunteering for about a month and getting to know the department heads, Dickens told each of them he needed a job and was hired onto the staff.
When the Florida votes were being recounted following the 2000 Presidential Election, Dickens was transferred to Florida from the campaign headquarters in Austin. Many of the staff members went home during the recount, but Dickens stayed until the end.
Dickens said Bush made it clear he wanted everyone who helped with the election and recount to be considered first for White House staff positions.
“I expected to be sent to one of the bureaus,” Dickens said. “I was shocked when they called and told me I’d gotten a job in the West Wing.”
Dickens worked as a press aide for several months until there was an opening for one of the two jobs as assistant press secretary for the president. In this position, Dickens serves directly under Ari Fleischer, the chief spokesman.
One thing most people don’t know about President Bush, Dickens said, is that he is hilarious.
He’s a regular person, Dickens added, who has a really important job.
“When we’re on his ranch, he’ll gather us, hand out chain saws, and say ‘Let’s go liberate some oak trees,’” Dickens said. Ranchers in Texas cut down cedar trees because their large root systems suffocate and kill the oak trees. This is why the president calls himself an “oak tree liberator,” Dickens elaborated.
Although Dickens started his career working with people close to his age who had graduated from Ivy League schools, he said he was not intimidated because he had all the skills and knowledge he needed to succeed.
“I can write in any form, research and communicate with anyone on any level,” Dickens said. “I think that comes from quality teachers who are very approachable and available, and small class sizes.”
Today, most of the people he works with are twice his age.
The problem-solving and communication skills Dickens learned at LSUS have prepared him to succeed on a national level. Even the little things he was taught, like to be on time, prepared him for his present position.
“Being on time is a religion to the president,” Dickens confided. “One day I was a couple minutes late and arrived just in time to see the taillights of the motorcade driving away.”