Bolten served as the White House chief of staff to U.S. president George W. Bush, replacing Andrew Card on April 14, 2006.

He was the second Jewish person to hold that top position (after Ken Duberstein during the Reagan administration, and before Rahm Emanuel in the Obama years).

[12] In addition, he recruited Tony Snow to work as White House press secretary, offered Rob Portman the opportunity to succeed him as OMB director, and brought his OMB deputy Joel Kaplan into the White House as deputy chief of staff for policy.

[14] In March 2010, Bolten was appointed a member of the board and co-chair of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which has raised $36 million to date for immediate earthquake relief and long-term recovery efforts in the Caribbean country.

[15] In July 2011, Bolten co-founded Rock Creek Global Advisors, an international economic and regulatory policy consulting firm, where he served as managing director until 2017.

[16] In January 2017, Bolten was named president and CEO of the Business Roundtable, a conservative lobbying organization.