Last Top Aide from 2008 Campaign to Leave White House

Dan Pfeiffer, one of President Barack Obama’s closest and longest serving remaining advisors, will depart the administration in mid-March, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

Pfeiffer, Obama’s senior advisor for strategy and communications, was previously White House communications director and communications director for the president’s 2008 campaign. News of his departure was first reported by the New York Times.

“Dan has been beside me on every step of this incredible journey, starting with those earliest days of the campaign in 2007,” Obama said in a statement. “And through it all, he’s been smart, steady, tireless and true to the values we started with. Like everyone else in the White House, I’ve benefited from his political savvy and his advocacy for working people. He’s a good man and a good friend, and I’m going to miss having him just down the hall from me.”

A White House official said Pfeiffer informed Obama he would depart the day after the State of the Union address last month aboard Air Force One. Pfeiffer had been publicly mulling leaving the administration for some time.

Pfeiffer has been credited inside the administration with cheerleading the embrace of new media technologies to circumvent traditional news outlets and reach Americans on the media they use. The official said before departing, Pfeiffer is leading a review of how to continue to adapt the White House communications operation to take advantage of new tools.

“Over the last few months, he’s been leading an internal review of how we structure our communications apparatus in a rapidly changing media environment – including meeting with Silicon Valley experts to develop recommendations for how we best communicate to audiences in the digital age,” the official said. “Dan will finish this project before departing in early March.”