Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Joins President Biden's White House Team in Senior Role

Megan Varner/Getty Images Keisha Lance Bottoms

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has joined the White House.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that Bottoms, 52, will serve as senior advisor to the president for public engagement.

In her new role, Bottoms "will oversee the White House Office of Public Engagement, which works at the local, state, and national levels to ensure community leaders, diverse perspectives, and new voices have the opportunity to inform the work of the President in an inclusive, transparent and responsible way," the White House said in a release.

The news that Bottoms had joined the White House comes months after a surprise announcement in May, when she stated that she would not be running for reelection as Atlanta's mayor — writing in a letter addressed to the city that she made her decision with "deep emotions."

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The letter, posted on Twitter, drew on the many challenges during Bottoms' tenure in office, including a massive cyberattack in 2018, the 2020 presidential election (in which Georgia played a starring role) and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"My faith teaches me that to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose. Nearly five years ago, I entered a season of seeking to become Mayor of Atlanta — the city that generations of my family have called home for over 100 years," Bottoms, who was elected in 2017, wrote, later adding, "It is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor."

In a statement issued Wednesday, Biden said Bottoms "led the city of Atlanta with strength through the pandemic, through a summer of protests and pain, and through the mass shooting that left Atlanta's Asian American community in fear."

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"Keisha is bright, honorable, tough and has the integrity required to represent our Administration to the American public," Biden continued in his statement. "Jill and I have known Keisha for a long time and look forward to working with her more closely."

Since leaving the mayor's office, Bottoms has worked as a political commentator for CNN, and been based in Atlanta.

On Tuesday, she shared the news of her new role on Instagram, adding: #Honored.