Karen Hughes

Karen Hughes served as the under-secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in the U.S. Department of State from 2005 to 2007.

Hughes was born on December 27, 1956, in Paris, France, to American parents Patricia and Harold Parfitt, the last U.S. governor of the Panama Canal Zone. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in journalism from Southern Methodist University in 1977. She began her career as a television news reporter for KXAS-TV, the NBC affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth.

Prior to serving as under-secretary, Hughes was a senior communications strategist in the 2004 campaign of President George W. Bush, a counselor to President Bush from 2001 to 2002 and communications director for Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. As counselor to the president, she was a strategic advisor on policy and communications and managed the White House offices of Communications, Media Affairs, Speechwriting and Press Secretary. Hughes served as director of communications in the Texas governor's office from 1995 to 2000, and directed communications during Governor Bush's gubernatorial campaigns in 1994 and 1998. She served as executive director of the Republican Party of Texas from 1992 until 1994, and was a consultant and spokesman for the party in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

After leaving her position in the Bush White House, Hughes served as global vice chair of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.

Sources:

Burson-Marsteller (2009). Karen Hughes. Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on Feb. 26, 2020 from https://web.archive.org/web/20110708105319/http://www.burson-marsteller.com/About_Us/Global_Leadership/Lists/Leadership/DispForm.aspx?ID=34.

Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics (n.d.). Karen Hughes. Retrieved on Feb. 26, 2020, from https://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/karen-hughes.

The White House (n.d.). Karen P. Hughes: Forner Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Retrieved on Feb. 26, 2020, from https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/hughes-bio.html.