Joel David Kaplan (born 1969) is an American political advisor and former lobbyist working as Facebook's vice president of global public policy. Previously, he served eight years in the George W. Bush administration. After leaving the Bush administration, he was a lobbyist for energy companies. Within Facebook, Kaplan is seen as a strong conservative voice. He has helped place conservatives in key positions in the company, and advocated for the interests of the right-wing websites Breitbart News and The Daily Caller within the company. He has successfully advocated for changes in Facebook's algorithm to promote the interests of right-wing publications, and successfully prevented Facebook from closing down Facebook groups that were alleged to have circulated fake news, arguing that doing so would disproportionately target conservatives. Early life and education Kaplan was born in Weston, Massachusetts, the third child of an attorney and a college administrator. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University in 1991 during which time he was active student democrat and also briefly dated his future colleague at Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg. According to a friend of Kaplan's at Harvard, his political views shifted because of campus demonstrations opposing the U.S. invasion of Kuwait during the Gulf War. After college, he served as an Artillery Officer in the United States Marine Corps for four years. He then earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1998. Career After law school, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig. He was an active conservative Democrat during the early-1990s. He registered as a Republican in the late-1990s. George W. Bush 2000 campaign Kaplan worked as a policy advisor on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, during which he was a participant in the Brooks Brothers riot on November 22, 2000. George W. Bush administration (2001–2009) From 2001 to 2003 he was special assistant to the president for policy within the White House Chief of Staff’s office. Then he served as deputy director of the Office of Management And Budget, serving under Joshua Bolten. While at the OMB, in 2006, Kaplan said the administration would cut the deficit by half by 2009. In April 2006 he returned to the White House as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for policy, taking over policy planning duties from Karl Rove as part of a staff shake-up by White House Chief