Marc Short was born in Virginia, the son of Richard T. "Dick" Short III, a wealthy insurance executive, and his wife Florence "Kim" Timolat Short. The family lived "in a comfortable waterfront home on the eastern tip of Virginia Beach’s Bay Island." He attended Norfolk Academy from grade school to high school. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1992. While an undergraduate at Washington and Lee University, Short co-founded The Spectator in 1989, a conservative paper. He served as editor until 1992, when he graduated. In a column for the paper, Short "disparaged people living with HIV and AIDS," stating "the propaganda campaign ignited by gay activists and carelessly perpetuated by journalists whose intent is to scare all heterosexuals into believing they are prime targets for contraction of the disease. The campaign's purpose is both to lobby Congress for more federal funding of AIDS research and to destigmatize the perverted lifestyles homosexuals pursue."
Career
Short served as finance director for Oliver North's unsuccessful 1994 Senate campaign in Virginia. He then worked as spokesperson and executive director for The Freedom Alliance. Short was also the executive director of Young America's Foundation. In 1998, the group purchased the Reagan Ranch in California, with the intention of using it for leadership seminars for college students. Short managed the property with his wife and got his start in fundraising from conservative donors. The Shorts then returned to Virginia, where he received his MBA from the University of Virginia. Following his graduation, Short was hired as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. He then worked for Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, eventually becoming her chief of staff. When Hutchison ran for Governor of Texas, Short started working for then-Congressman Mike Pence, who named him chief of staff for the House Republican Conference in 2009. He remained in the position until 2011. Short was then hired by Freedom Partners, a non-profit, 501 chamber of commerce located in Arlington, Virginia that is largely funded by Charles and David Koch. He served as the organization's President from 2011 to 2016. In February 2016, Short left his position at Freedom Partners to start his own consulting firm. Among his clients were Marco Rubio's presidential campaign and Pence's Indiana gubernatorial campaign. Pence eventually withdrew from the gubernatorial race to become Trump's running mate. On June 16, 2016, Short was named Communications Advisor to then Vice Presidential candidate Pence.
Trump administration
President Trump named Short the Director of Legislative Affairs on January 4, 2017. Short announced he would leave the White House post in the summer of 2018, citing “diminishing returns” of pushing President Donald Trump’s agenda. On February 19, 2019, Vice President Mike Pence announced Short would be his next Chief of Staff, beginning in March 2019. On November 20, 2019, Short issued a statement rebutting the sworn testimony given that same day before Congress by US Ambassador to the European UnionGordon Sondland. Sondland claimed while meeting with Pence that the two discussed the alleged "quid pro quo" that was at the heart of the impeachment inquiry before the House. Marc Short wrote the vice president "never had a conversation with Gordon Sondland about investigating the Bidens, Burisma, or the conditional release of financial aid to Ukraine based upon potential investigations." Later that evening during Cuomo Prime Time, the statement was described as being well crafted and that it didn't deny that Pence already knew about Trump's requests. During the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, Short played an important role on Vice President Mike Pence's coronavirus task force. During the response to the coronavirus pandemic, Short persistently downplayed the dangers of the pandemic, and criticized the data shared with Trump that modeled an estimated 100,000 - 240,000 U.S. deaths under a continuation of the administration's social distancing policies, and as many as 1.6 million - 2.2 million U.S. deaths in the absence of any mitigation efforts. In internal White House discussions, Short said he did not believe that the U.S. death toll would ever go beyond 60,000. In internal discussions, Short also criticized the administration's public health response in a broader policy level, arguing that it damaged the economy and harmed Trump's re-election chances. He repeatedly encouraged others in the administration to re-open the economy amid the implementation of lockdown and social distancing efforts.. As Short and his wife hold stock in various pharmaceutical and medical companies connected with the Pence task force's work, this raised concerns of potential conflicts of interest.
Personal life
Marc and Kristen Short were married in 1997. They have three children and live in Arlington, Virginia. He is an evangelical Christian.
