WASHINGTON — Ron Klain has checked all the boxes of a classic Washington striver: Georgetown, Harvard Law, Supreme Court clerk and Capitol Hill staffer, White House adviser and, along the way, of course, lobbyist and lawyer.

Now Klain is preparing to serve as President-elect Joe Biden’s chief of staff, a job often referred to as the nation’s chief operating officer.

His gilded resume, deep knowledge of the gears and levers of power in the capital and decadeslong association with Biden have also done something unusual in today’s Washington: drawn praise from both sides of the ideological divide.

The 59-year-old father of three has a reputation among Democrats and, strikingly, even some Republicans for competence — a notable attribute after an administration that rewarded and dismissed people based on their loyalty to President Donald Trump.

In his new job, Klain will be asked to enforce the president’s wishes, catch the spears thrown at him and oversee dozens of other top staffers whose outsize ambition may match his own.

“This is not a time for inexperienced novices,” said Valerie Jarrett, who worked as senior adviser to President Barack Obama while Klain was then-Vice President Biden’s chief of staff.

Klain, she noted, knows the function of every agency in the federal government, has deep relationships on Capitol Hill and has the obvious respect of Biden and his inner circle.

“We’ve seen over the past four years how much can go wrong when people who actually don’t understand how the government works are in charge,” she added.

Klain is a throwback, representing the return of the experienced Washington hand — equal parts wonky master of obscure policy and power-shaping consigliere.

“He has a quiet profile among the wider public and an enormous profile among those who understand real power,” said Evan Osnos, author of a new Biden biography, “Joe Biden: The Life, The Run and What Matters Now.”