Facebook hires former White House press secretary after not hiring other former White House press secretary

Facebook wasn't able to lure the most recent former White House press secretary into a job as its new communications chief. But it had better luck with a presidential flack of yore.

The social networking giant has tapped Joe Lockhart, who helped Bill Clinton navigate his impeachment hearings during a stint as White House press secretary from 1998 to 2000, as its vice president of global communications.

"His experience building and running a press office at the White House gives him particular appreciation for the demands of a global 24-hour news cycle and the challenges of responding effectively to intense scrutiny," Lockhart's new boss, Elliot Schrage, told AllThingsD, which broke the news Tuesday.

The hire comes as Facebook works to make a larger footprint in Washington, particularly in view of the controversies surrounding its privacy policies and expansion efforts in China. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company also recently hired several former Bush aides as part of its DC push.

Facebook had been in talks several months ago with President Obama's longtime adviser and inaugural press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who resigned his White House post in January. An offer appeared imminent at one point, but the courtship collapsed in April following leaks about the negotiations to the media.

As for Lockhart, his own Facebook profile doesn't reveal much personal information publicly. But he has more than 3,000 friends and is a fan of media heavyweights such as Jeffrey Toobin, Arianna Huffington and Howard Kurtz, as well as his former boss Clinton.