[close] Scott McClellan is a former White House Press Secretary (2003-2006) for President George W. Bush.

On April 19, 2006, McClellan announced that he would be leaving the Administration; he remained in the position until replacement Tony Snow was announced on April 26, 2006.

McClellan unexpectedly and harshly criticizes the Bush administration in his 2008 memoir What Happened. He accuses Bush of "self-deception" and of maintaining a "permanent campaign approach" to governing rather than making the best choices. McClellan stops short of saying that Bush purposely lied about his reasons for invading Iraq, writing that the administration was not "employing out-and-out deception" to make the case for war in 2002, though he does write that the administration relied on an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war. The book is also critical of the press corps for being too accepting of the administration's propaganda on the Iraq War and of Condoleeza Rice for being "too accommodating" and being very careful about protecting her own reputation.

The Bush administration responded through Press Secretary Dana Perino, who said, "Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. We are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."
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