Dana Marie Perino[1] (born May 9, 1972) is an American political commentator and author who was the 26th White House Press Secretary, under President George W. Bush from September 14, 2007, to January 20, 2009.

[2] Perino is a political commentator for Fox News, while also serving as a co-host of the network's talk show The Five, and was a book publishing executive at Random House.

[5] Perino graduated from Colorado State University Pueblo with a bachelor's degree in mass communications and minors in both political science and Spanish.

[5] In November 2001, Perino returned to Washington, D.C., and secured a position as a spokesperson for the Department of Justice,[14] at which she served for two years.

[16][17] Perino was hired by White House chief of staff Andy Card two months after the September 11 attacks.

From March 27 through April 30, 2007, she was the Acting White House Press Secretary while Tony Snow underwent treatment for colon cancer.

[19] On August 31, 2007, President George W. Bush announced Snow would be resigning his post for health reasons where Perino would become his replacement.

[20] Perino served as Assistant to the President and as White House Press Secretary from September 14, 2007, until the end of the Bush administration in January 2009.

[21][22] On December 14, 2008, a TV journalist, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, threw two shoes at Bush during a Baghdad press conference.

Bush successfully dodged both, but Perino's eye was injured by a microphone stand during the commotion surrounding al-Zaidi's arrest.