Kerry names key staffers

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts this morning announced key staff members both for his Senate office and for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In his Senate office, David Wade, Kerry's deputy chief of staff and formerly press secretary for both Kerry and Vice President-elect Joe Biden during their presidential campaigns, will be chief of staff. Jodi Seth, former communications director for Chairman John D. Dingell on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, will be communications director.

“This new Congress faces an incredibly challenging time in our nation’s history,” Kerry said in a statement. “We must work tirelessly to tackle global climate change and energy issues, finally make health care affordable for every American, and get our economy moving again. I’m incredibly confident that our staff, led by my long time advisor and friend David Wade, will fight hard to serve the people of Massachusetts and our country.”

On the Foreign Relations Committee that Kerry is taking over as chairman, David McKean, Kerry's former chief of staff, will serve as staff director. Doug Frantz, a former managing editor of the Los Angeles Times and former investigative reporter for The New York Times, will be the committee's chief investigator. Frederick Jones, formerly deputy director of the State Department’s Office of Strategic Communications, will be communications director. And Frank Lowenstein, Kerry's senior foreign policy adviser, will be the committee's chief counsel.

“This incoming Foreign Relations Committee intends to face the serious international military, security, political, and humanitarian issues head on,” Kerry said in a statement. “The knowledgeable, experienced staff we’ve assembled shares with me a deep personal commitment to meet these challenges and once again restore America’s standing in the world. I’m incredibly confident that this committee, headed by the exceptionally able David McKean, will work tirelessly to get this country back on track.”

Their mini-resumes, provided by Kerry's office, are below:

David McKean, Staff Director
David McKean served as Chief of Staff in Sen. Kerry’s personal office from 1999 to 2008 and was a key player in laying the groundwork for the Senator’s presidential run in 2004. Raised in South Hamilton, MA, McKean graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1980 and went on to earn graduate degrees from both the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Duke Law School. He taught at the Waterford Kamhlaba School in Swaziland from 1981-1982 and served as Chief of Staff to Joe Kennedy from 1993-1994. He is the author of two highly acclaimed political biographies and coauthor of a forthcoming book on the early Supreme Court. McKean is married with three children and lives in Washington D.C.

Doug Frantz, Chief Investigator
Douglas Frantz, a former managing editor of the Los Angeles Times and former investigative reporter for The New York Times, has joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as chief investigator. Frantz was part of the team of NY Times reporters who won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2002 and he was a Pulitzer finalist twice for investigative reporting. Frantz was the Istanbul bureau chief for the NY Times from 2000 to 2002 and he was based in Istanbul as an investigative reporter for the LA Times from 2003 to late 2005 when he became managing editor. He is a graduate of DePauw University and has a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Frederick L. Jones, Communications Director
Frederick L. Jones II was a career Foreign Service Officer for over ten years, serving both domestically and abroad in positions with the State Department and Executive Office of the President during the Bush and Clinton Administrations. In his last position with the State Department, Jones served as Deputy Director of the State Department’s Office of Strategic Communications. Previously, he was detailed to the National Security Council, where he served first as Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs and later as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Office of Communications, Press, and Speechwriting. Jones also served as Media Coordinator/Deputy Press Secretary for Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Press Secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. Jones earned a J.D. from the University of California Davis School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science, with a minor in History, from Howard University. He is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Frank Lowenstein, Chief Counsel
Frank Lowenstein received a BA from Yale in 1990 and a JD from Boston College Law School in 1997, spending his third year in law school as visiting student at Yale. Lowenstein served as Legislative Assistant for Foreign Policy and Defense issues for Senator J. Robert Kerrey of Nebraska from 1990 to 1994. He was a Director of National Security Policy on the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2003-2004. He practiced law for five years in Boston before joining the Kerry campaign, and for six months here in Washington after the campaign and before joining Senator Kerry’s personal staff. For the past three years, he has been Senator Kerry’s Senior Foreign Policy Advisor.