A longtime fundraiser for President Barack Obama, Rogers was one of the top presidential campaign bundlers, raising more than $500,000 for the 2008 race. He's also a friend. In the early 1990s, Rogers got to know Obama well, working on a voter registration drive in the African-American wards of Chicago. In time, the relationship deepened because Obama married the "little sister" of Rogers' buddy Craig Robinson, a Princeton basketball teammate.
Rogers still remembers the speech that launched Obama's first race for the Illinois Senate, when he was wowed by his friend's "unbelievable" ability to communicate. It was "inspiring." From that day forward, Rogers raised funds for all Obama campaigns, including his races for Illinois Senate, Congress and U.S. Senate.
Raising money for the presidential campaign required extensive contacts, but little persuasion. "People were so excited to help in any way they could. I've never seen anything like it."They'd ask 'what's the maximum I can give?' You never get that."
Despite his famous friends, Rogers is described as down-to-earth by his best friend, Education Secretary Arne Duncan. A frequent McDonald's patron, Rogers "treats the homeless guys exactly how he treats Barack. I think that's so rare," said Duncan in an interview.
Unlike Duncan, Rogers stayed in Chicago during Obama's White House run.
Rogers helped raise money and plan for the inauguration. His priority was to make events open, like never before, to people from all walks of life. He worked especially hard to make sure older, pioneering civil rights activists attended, despite the shortage of tickets.
Once Obama was in the White House, Rogers became an informal adviser on the issues dear to him: business, education, and diversity.
That is, until late 2010, when Obama nominated Rogers to chair the President's Council on Financial Capability.
Rogers' ex-wife is Desiree Rogers, the former White House social secretary who got into trouble when a fame-seeking couple crashed the White House state dinner for the Indian prime minister in November 2009.
More on: John W. Rogers Jr.
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