Dee Dee Myers (born Margaret Jane Myers on 1 September 1961 in Providence, Rhode Island) served as White House Press Secretary for the first two years of the Clinton administration, from January 20, 1993 to December 22, 1994. In the first months of the Clinton Administration she was widely seen as something of a pretender, as Clinton advisor George Stephanopolous actually conducted the daily press briefings instead of Myers. However, after a few verbal missteps by Stephanopolous early in the administration, Myers took over the traditional role of the press secretary and is considered to have had a successful tenure.
Myers holds the distinction of being the first (and only, as of 2006) woman to serve as White House Press Secretary, as well as being the second-youngest press secretary ever.
Myers is a 1983 graduate of Santa Clara University.
On June 27, 1995, she was arrested for drunk driving while driving the wrong way on a one-way Washington, D.C., street. She completed a driver-education class shortly afterward to wipe her record clean.[1]
Myers currently lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband Todd Purdum, a writer for Vanity Fair and the former Los Angeles Bureau Chief for the New York Times, and their daughter, Katherine, and son, Stephen. She worked as a consultant and contributor to the television show The West Wing throughout its run, and is currently a political commentator on the U.S. cable network MSNBC.
It is believed that the character of C.J. Cregg (played by Allison Janney) on The West Wing is based on Myers.[2]