White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced his resignation after 182 days on the job, marking the end of a tumultuous and combative run — as well as one of the shortest tenures in the position’s history.
The six months that Spicer has spent as chief spokesperson for President Donald Trump marks the sixth-shortest tenure in the job since the position developed in the 1920s and 1930s, according to data from the White House Transition Project. Spicer tweeted that he will continue during the transition into August.
Nearly all White House press secretaries have served for at least one year, with many serving multiple years. The average term since 1929 is just short of three years on the job.
Three of the five press secretaries with shorter terms than Spicer came in the final days of an administration, the White House Transition Project says. Jake Siewert finished up the last few months of Bill Clinton’s presidency, Roger Tubby finished the lame-duck period for Harry Truman and Jonathan Daniels covered the last few weeks of Franklin Roosevelt’s time in office before his death.
The other two short terms came in particularly extraordinary times. Jerald terHorst became press secretary in the wake of Richard Nixon’s resignation, serving for the first month of Gerald Ford’s presidency. James Brady, after whom the current White House briefing room is named, was shot during an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. (Brady technically maintained the press secretary title for the rest of the Reagan administration, but did not act in the role after the shooting.)
Spicer’s term ranks as the 26th longest of the 31 people to hold the job. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will take the job next, the third woman ever to hold the position.
