Marie Harf

Marie Harf
File:Official Harf Photograph.jpg
Born	Marie Elizabeth Harf (1981-06-15) June 15, 1981 Chicago, USA
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Indiana University Bloomington University of Virginia
Occupation	U.S. State Department official
Spouse(s)	Joshua Lucas (m. 2012)

Marie Elizabeth Harf (born June 15, 1981) is the Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the U.S. State Department, leading the Iran nuclear negotiations communications strategy. She previously served as Acting Spokesperson and Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department.

Early life

Harf, daughter of Jane Ax Harf of Granville, Ohio, and James E. Harf of St. Louis. and a native of Granville, Ohio, graduated from Granville High School in 1999. She graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a BA in Political Science with concentrations in Jewish Studies and Russian and Eastern European Studies, and then received her master's degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, where her thesis evaluated the prospects for continued regime stability in Saudi Arabia.

Career

Harf began her career at the Directorate of Intelligence at the CIA as an analyst focusing on Middle Eastern leadership issues. She later became the media spokesperson of the CIA.

During the 2012 presidential election, Harf helped craft U.S. President Barack Obama's national security and communications strategy, and also served as campaign spokesperson on national security issues.

In June 2013, Harf was appointed Deputy Spokesperson for the US State Department, where she served as deputy under Jen Psaki.

Harf attracted controversy for an interview she gave on Hardball with Chris Matthews on February 16, 2015 following the release the day before of a video by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya. In response to questioning from Matthews on the U.S.'s strategy toward ISIS, Harf said, "We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs, whether…" Her critics ridiculed her on social media with the hashtag "#JobsForISIS," which became a top 10 trending topic on U.S. Twitter.

In April 2015, Bloomberg News reported that Navy Admiral John Kirby would soon be appointed Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, replacing Acting Spokesperson Marie Harf, who had also interviewed for the position. In 2013, Kirby had also beaten out Harf for the spokesperson position at the U.S. Department of Defense under Chuck Hagel.

Harf served as Acting Spokesperson until May 13, 2015, and on June 1, 2015, she began a new role as Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications to Secretary of State John Kerry, continuing her work leading the Iran nuclear negotiations communications strategy.

Personal life

Harf married Joshua Lucas on April 14, 2012.

External links

• Marie Harf on Twitter