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Rahm Emanuel To Be Obama's White House Chief of Staff

by Jarrett Martineau | November 6, 2008 at 11:42 am

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Rahm Emanuel will be President Obama's chief of staff in the White House.

Mr. Emanuel accepted the offer on Thursday.

Representative Rahm Emanuel on Thursday accepted the offer to become the White House chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama.

Here is some background information on Emanuel's recent political experience.

Emanuel was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2006 elections. After the Democratic Party regained control of the House, he was elected as the next chairman of the Democratic Caucus. He is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip Jim Clyburn.

He also played a key role in the Clinton administration as one President Clinton's top aides.

Mr. Emanuel was moved to tears on accepting the new position as chief of staff for the first African-American president.

U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel will bring a "tough-minded" and "pragmatic" approach to the White House when he becomes President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, according to people who know the Chicago, Illinois, native. [...]

On the sidewalk outside his Chicago office, Emanuel shed tears as he told reporters, "I am happy that my parents are still alive to see their middle son become the chief of staff for a historic figure in the White House -- the first African-American president. ... It means a lot to me."

After leaving the Clinton White House, Emanuel, 48, was an investment banker on Wall Street and later was elected to the House of Representatives in 2002 from a heavily Democratic Chicago district. He quickly rose to become the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House.