article: The first man to serve as White House social secretary, Jeremy Bernard, is leaving after four years on the job. The White House said today that Bernard would depart after a state dinner next month held in honor of the Japanese Prime Minister, confirming rumors that Bernard, 53, would soon exit the administration. The first lady said in a statement she was 'lucky to have such a talented individual on my team.' 'I am equally lucky to have made a lifelong friend in Jeremy,' she added. 'Jeremy will be missed, and Barack and I wish him the very best in all of his future endeavors.' The first lady, pictured here in November 2011 with White House Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard in Hawaii, said in a statement she was 'lucky to have such a talented individual on my team.' Obama added, 'I am equally lucky to have made a lifelong friend in Jeremy' The White House did not name a replacement for Bernard, who is also the first gay man to hold the position, nor did it explain why he was leaving. Michelle Obama spoke highly of his time on staff, however, saying, 'For the last four years, Jeremy has worked tirelessly to open the doors of the White House to as many people as possible and to make each and every event in the White House one to remember, not only for Barack and me, but for the tens of thousands of guests who pass through our doors each year.' Bernard simply stated that it's been an 'honor' to serve the Obamas and lauded the first lady for welcoming 'every guest to the White House with her signature warmth, grace and style.' 'I feel so privileged to have worked for such an extraordinary President and First Lady,' his statement read. The former California resident told the Washington Post that he planned to return to The Golden States, and he's 'really looking for some time to think about what’s next and spend some quality time with Garbo, my rescue beagle.' Bernard is pictured here catching snowflakes on the Colonnade of the White House in this February 2014 photo captured by the building's official photographer. The White House today confirmed that Bernard, 53, would depart after a state dinner next month . According to a profile of Bernard in Vogue, Bernard stumbled into politics in the early '90s while waiting tables in Los Angeles. There he met a fundraiser for then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, Dave Mixner, who brought him under his wing and into Clintonland. Bernard later formed a California-based political consulting firm with his ex-boyfriend, Democratic operative Rufus Gifford, that became the vehicle for Barack Obama's West Coast fundraising during his first campaign for president. Obama rewarded Bernard for his hard work with an appointment as the White House's liaison to the National Endowment for the Humanities. He briefly served as the chief of staff to the U.S. Ambassador to France in 2010 before accepting the position of social secretary the following year with his boss' blessing. Barrier-breaking Bernard has served quietly as social secretary since February 2011, carefully avoiding the limelight, unlike his predecessor Desirée Rogers, the first African-American social secretary, who was forced out of the administration after just 13 months on the job. It was during Rogers' tenure that socialites Michaele and Tareq Salahi crashed a White House state dinner in 2009. The couple went on to start in Bravo's Real Housewives of D.C. reality TV series. No such mishaps happened during the tenure of Bernard, whose behind-the-scenes work kept the White House in shipshape during social events. His first interview since taking the job, the Vogue profile, did not hit newsstands until February of this year - his fourth anniversary as social secretary. Asked for the interview why he believes he was chosen for the job, Bernard said, 'I would imagine part of it is a trust issue. I was there from the beginning. I was a known quantity. They certainly knew that I was loyal and supportive.' This March 18 photo shows, from left to right, Jeremy Bernard, Democratic operative Karen Finney, Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities Rachel Goslins, and former Obama administration officals Stephanie Cutter at the ELLE and HUGO BOSS Women in Washington Power List Dinner at The Residence of the German Ambassador. Barrier-breaking Bernard has served quietly as White House social secretary since February 2011 and has carefully avoiding the limelight for the better part of his tenure . Under Bernard's watch, the White House has moved from formal printed invitations for many events to an email system. It has also shed the tradition of seating husbands and wives away from each other at dinners. Bernard told Vogue his team had received 'some criticism' for departing from the traditional seating chart, but it done in accordance with the first lady's will. 'it does bring a comfort level,' he said, of husbands and wives being allowed to sit together. 'And I believe that was part of what Mrs. Obama wanted. 'It is still the White House, still very historic and traditional, but it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.' Speaking to the Washington Post about his impeding departure, Bernard summed up his work as making 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 'as open as possible and to grant access to as many people as possible, especially people who had never been to the house before.' 'It’s easy to fall into patterns, and what Mrs. Obama has been able to do is have an attitude that keeps it fresh,' he said. At the time of the Vogue interview, which was conducted over several months, dating back to the beginning of November even though it was not published until February, Bernard claimed not to know what his next professional move would be and said he was focusing on the last two years of the Obamas' residency in the White House. 'The good thing about this job—and perhaps the bad thing—is that I am not able to think about the future,' he said. Bernard said that a previous White House social secretary told him 'she lost sleep toward the end because people told her she would go on to do great things next, but they never told her what.' 'She warned me that I do have to start thinking about it,' he recalled. 'I know I do; I just haven’t yet. I’m sort of putting my head in the sand.'
highlights: White House said today that Jeremy Bernard would depart after a state dinner next month, confirming rumors he'd soon exit the administration .
  First lady offered a glowing review of Bernard's tenure, saying she was 'lucky to have such a talented individual on my team' and a 'lifelong friend'
  He is moving back to California 'to think about what’s next and spend some quality time with Garbo, my rescue beagle'
  White House has not yet named a replacement .
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