Counselor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States and senior members of the White House Office. The current officeholder is Steve Ricchetti. The position should not be confused with the office of White House counsel, who is the chief legal advisor to the president and the White House, which is also an appointed position. History The position was created during the administration of Richard Nixon, where it was assigned Cabinet rank. It remained a Cabinet-level position until 1993. During Nixon's presidency, eight people held the position, with there sometimes being two or three concurrent incumbents. During the presidency of Gerald Ford, the post was shared by longtime communications advisor Robert T. Hartmann and national security aide John O. Marsh, with former United States secretary of commerce Rogers Morton briefly joining them as a domestic policy advisor in early 1976. The position was vacant during the Jimmy Carter administration, as Carter initially left many senior White House positions unfilled (such as White House chief of staff) and preferred a smaller corps of advisers. Edwin Meese held the position during the first term of President Ronald Reagan, and was highly influential inside the White House. Meese, Chief of Staff James Baker and Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver were nicknamed "the troika" and considered the most influential advisors to the president. Meese became United States attorney general during Reagan's second term as president and the position was left vacant. The position was left vacant in the first three years of President George H. W. Bush's term. In 1992, it was filled by Clayton Yeutter following his resignation as chairman of the Republican National Committee. During the Bill Clinton administration, the post became much more focused on communications. Two of Clinton's counselors, David Gergen and Paul Begala, later became CNN political analysts. During the administration of George W. Bush, the position oversaw the communications, media affairs, speechwriting, and press offices. Under the Obama administration, the position was initially abolished and the duties of the office transferred to three senior advisors: David Axelrod, Pete Rouse, and Valerie Jarrett, who also held the title Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. On January 6, 2011, President Obama appointed Rouse as counselor to the president where he was responsible for assisting the president and chief of staff with the day-to-day management of