Profiles of Obama's White House: Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel

As part of my commitment to do what I can as a citizen to keep the upcoming administration accountable, I am doing a little research into the appointments Obama is making to his cabinet. I will do a short profile on each appointment as they are made official, starting with Rahm Emmanuel, who accepted the position of White House Chief of Staff earlier today:

Born: November 29, 1959. Retained Israeli citizenship up until 1991.

Career

Before accepting the position of Chief of Staff, Emmanuel served as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives since 2003, representing Illinois's 5th congressional district which covers much of the north side of Chicago and parts of suburban Cook County. He was the 4th ranking Democrat in the House, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip Jim Clyburn.

Resume

Began his political career with the now defunct public interest and consumer rights organization Illinois Public Action.

1984: Worked for Democrat Paul Simon's election to the U.S. Senate.

1988: National campaign director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

1989: Senior advisor and chief fundraiser for Richard M. Daley's victorious campaign for Mayor of Chicago.

Served then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign as finance committee director, and was instrumental in Clinton's win in 1992.

1993 - 1998: Senior advisor to Clinton as Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and then Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. He was a leading strategist in the unsuccessful White House efforts to institute universal healthcare and many other Clinton initiatives.

1999 - 2002: Accepted a high paid position at Dresdner Kleinwort investment bank in Chicago.

2005: Named the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

2006: Received praise for his stewardship of the DCCC during the highly successful 2006 election cycle.

Committees

Ways and Means - Chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. This Committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other programs including:
-Social Security
-Unemployment benefits
-Medicare
-Enforcement of child support laws
-Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal welfare program
-Foster care and adoption programs

Political Views

Indicated his support of President Bush's position on Iraq, but said he believed the president needed to better articulate his position to the American people.

Believes in affordable and available healthcare for all Americans.

Has maintained a 100% pro-choice voting record.

Depending on who you ask, Emmanuel is either pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, but from what I have read, he seems most vocal in support of Israel.

Controversies

An article from 2006 raised speculation regarding a possible connection between Emanuel's Congressional election success and convicted former Chicago water department boss Don Tomczak.

USA Today reported in late January 2007 that Emanuel failed to disclose that he was an officer of a family charity, a violation of law requiring members of Congress to report non-profit leadership roles.


It has been said of Emmanuel that he is far from partisan and that this is a sign that Obama does not intend to act in a bipartisan fashion. My only response to that is: he really is not obligated to do any such thing considering the majority his party has. Rahm also has a reputation for being a "pit bull" and some of his bio (courtesy of Wikipedia) confirms he can be tenacious. Obama has commented that he can, "Get things done", so I suppose that was the appeal; not that Emmanuel makes nice but that he is effective. Whether Obama really will reach across the aisle and include Republicans remains to be seen.

(Source: Wikipedia)