Founder

In 1936 Mike N. Manatos moved to Washington DC from Rock Springs, WY to accept a job in the US Senate thus beginning his family’s nearly 90-years of deep involvement in the Legislative and Executive Branches of our Federal Government. He rose in the US Senate to become the Chief of Staff for his Senators’ office. He was then elected by the 99 other Chiefs of Staff in the Senate to become the president of the Chiefs of Staff organization in the 1950s. During the months that his Senator became incapacitated, Manatos took on all of the duties of the Senator except for casting a vote on the Senate Floor. During those years he came to work very closely with then Senator John Kennedy of Massachusetts and then Senator Lyndon Johnson of Texas.

Upon Senator Kennedy’s and Senator Johnson’s election to the presidency and vice presidency, respectively, and given their top priority for the enactment of historic legislation, Kennedy asked Manatos to use his quarter of a century experience in the US Senate to become Administrative Assistant to the President for Senate Liaison. His White House office was in close proximity to the President’s Oval Office.

Following the assassination of President Kennedy, the succeeding President, Vice President Johnson asked him to stay on in his position. Included among his many accomplishments in that role is the record setting number of bills enacted. Manatos played a crucial role in the enactment of what is considered by many to be the most monumental legislation of modern history – the civil rights bill and the voting rights bill. And, in light of the fact that Southern Democratic Senators were the biggest roadblock to the enactment of such legislation, Manatos’ success with those Senators was of particular consequence.

Following his service in the White House, Manatos was asked to serve as the co-head of the Washington office of one of the country’s most highly regarded companies at that time – Procter and Gamble. He stayed in that position for a decade before retiring. He then joined his son, Andrew E. Manatos, who had just left the position of Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Carter Administration, as partners in Manatos and Manatos. That entity was next joined by his namesake and grandson Mike A. Manatos, upon his graduation from Princeton University.