Rahm Emanuel Biography

Government Official

Rahm Emanuel is the former Illinois Congressman who is now White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama. Emanuel is known for his blunt and hard-charging political style; The Washington Post has called him "a skilled and relentless operator" and "a sharp-elbowed partisan whose renowned abrasiveness has rankled some within his own party." Emanuel has an undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College (1981) and Master's in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University (1985). He grew up politically in Chicago, working with the legendary Chicago Democratic machine of Richard M. Daley, and from there he became an advisor to President Bill Clinton. After a few years with the investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Emanuel was elected to Congress from Illinois' 5th District in 2002. After reelection in 2004 he was appointed chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and in that role he was widely credited with leading the Democratic charge that regained the party's majority in the House of Representatives in 2006. He was elected again in 2006 and 2008; after the latter election he resigned the seat to become chief of staff to the newly-elected Barack Obama.

Extra credit: Emanuel studied ballet at Sarah Lawrence College... His brother, Ari Emanuel, is the founder of the Hollywood talent agency Endeavor, and was the model for the character of superagent Ari Gold (played by Jeremy Piven) on the TV series Entourage... Rahm Emanuel himself was the model for Josh Lyman, the idealistic deputy chief of staff on The West Wing, according to a 2008 report in US Weekly... Emanuel is sometimes called "Rahmbo" for his take-no-prisoners style... He married the former Amy Rule in 1994. They have three children: Zachariah (b. 1999), Ilana (b. 2000), and Leah (b. 2002).

Emanuel is missing part of his right middle finger. Learn more in our popular loop Celebs Missing Fingers... He also appears, remarkably, with martial arts star Michelle Yeoh in our loop on Ballet Castaways.

Blog posts mentioning Rahm Emanuel:

• Christian Bale Joins the Missing Finger Club!
• Obama Names Ballet-Dancing, Finger-Missing Chief of Staff