Janet G. Mullins Grissom

Janet Gardner Mullins Grissom (September 7, 1949 – April 29, 2023) was an American lobbyist who worked in the United States Department of State, was U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell's first Chief of Staff, and in the White House under George H. W. Bush.

Early life and education Janet G. Mullins was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 7, 1949. She was educated at the University of Louisville, receiving a B.A. in political science.

On August 24, 1992, Bush named Baker as White House Chief of Staff and Mullins moved with Baker to the White House, becoming Assistant to the President for Political Affairs. (These searches were conducted after the White House received FOIA requests from several news organizations seeking information about Clinton's military service.) On December 10, 1992, United States Attorney General William Barr asked for the appointment of an independent counsel to study the allegations that Mullins violated the law in directing this search, and then misled officials from the United States Department of Justice about conducting the search.

Lobbying career In 1995, Ford Motor Company chief executive officer Alex Trotman recruited Mullins as Ford's vice president for Washington Affairs, the company's Top Lobbyist. She was the second woman to become a corporate officer of Ford in the ninety-plus year history of Ford Motor Company. On May 27, 2000, Janet Mullins married Thomas L. Grissom of Louisville, Kentucky, becoming known as Janet Mullins Grissom. During the 2000 Firestone and Ford tire controversy, Grissom briefed members of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on the controversy.

During her time with Ford, Grissom at one point chaired the executive committee of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. She also served on the Board of Directors of the International Republican Institute and the American Council of Young Political Leaders and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Atlantic Council, and the Federal City Council.

Grissom retired from Ford in 2004 and in 2005 joined the lobbying firm of Peck, Madigan, Jones & Stewart. Possibly her most high-profile appearance since that time came in 2007 when she represented Mattel during the United States House Energy Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection's hearing on the 2007 Chinese export recalls.

Death Grissom died on April 29, 2023, at the age of 73.