Mike Strautmanis

Counselor for strategic engagement to White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett (since January 2011)

(Whitehouse.gov)

Why He Matters

Strautmanis is one of Barack and Michelle Obama's closest friends. He met them at Sidney Austin LLP in Chicago when he was a paralegal. He later went to law school and became involved in politics. He worked on a variety of campaigns and in the Clinton administration before joining Obama's staff in the Senate.

In January 2011, new White House chief of staff William Daley named Strautmanis counselor for strategic engagement to senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Chief of Staff to Valerie Jarrett (December 2008 to January 2011); Counsel to Barack Obama (2005 to 2008); American Association of Justice (2001 to 2005); Legislative Director, Rep. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) (1999-2001); General counsel, USAID (1998 to 2000)
Birthday: March 24, 1969
Hometown: Chicago, Ill.
Alma Mater: University of Illinois, B.S. (Advertising), 1991; University of Illinois, J.D., 1994
Spouse: Damona

Religion: Baptist
DC Office: The White House
Email
Web site

Path to Power

Strautmanis was born in Chicago. His single mother was a teacher at Jenner Elementary School, which was on the grounds of the infamous Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago's South Side. But Strautmanis spent most of his childhood in Chicago's tony north-side neighborhoods, where he and his mom moved after she married a Latvian immigrant. His stepfather, a guidance counselor at Jenner Elementary and a member of Cikagas piecisi (The Chicago Five), a band famous in Chicago's Latvian neighborhoods, adopted Strautmanis, "which is how I got that long name."

They moved to Chicago's North Side, and Strautmanis' parents, who he says always stressed the value of education, sent him to St. Ignatius College Prep, a Jesuit-run school that was one of the best in the city. He started as a theater major at University of Illinois but eventually graduated with a degree in advertising.

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He decided in college to be a bike messenger "because I heard they made good money and I was too much of a fool to realize I was putting my life in my hands." Delivering packages to a big-time law firm in downtown Chicago, Strautmanis decided "this must be the best place to be."

He got a job as a paralegal at the law firm, Sidley Austin, to try to learn what lawyers do, and he became friends with a young attorney named Michelle Robinson. Robinson introduced him to her boy friend, Barack Obama, whom Strautmanis had heard about because Sidley Austin was aggressively recruiting him to return to the firm the year after he worked there as a summer associate. Obama and Strautmanis met on the basketball court at Robinson's uncle's house, "and we've all been friends ever since."

Strautmanis returned to the University of Illinois to study law and earned his J.D. in 1994. He wanted to work in politics, so he introduced himself to Tom Hynes, a South Side Chicago political boss, at a Christmas party and worked with Hynes' son, Dan, on the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign in Illinois. After the campaign, Strautmanis handed his resume to then-U.S. Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick after Patrick delivered a speech in Chicago.

A Clinton administration appointment earned him a job at the U.S. Agency for International Development until he moved to then-Rep. Rod Blagojevich's office as the director of legislative affairs. Strautmanis stayed in Washington when Blagojevich became Illinois' governor and worked briefly for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He stayed in touch with Obama and volunteered on his Senate campaign in 2004. He became the chief counsel and deputy chief of staff for Obama's Senate office before joining his 2008 presidential campaign.

Strautmanis now serves as chief of staff to Valerie Jarrett, who is special assistant to the president for the Office of Public Liaison. The job is very similar to the outreach position Strautmanis held in Obama's Senate office from 2006 to 2008.

The Issues

Strautmanis is a senior adviser to the president and the first lady. Obama describes him as a "utility man," and campaign advisor and Obama family friend Valerie Jarrett says he's the person you call when you need help with a delicate situation.

"He understands the importance of the personal touch and that e-mails and phone calls are not always appropriate," she said. "There are times when a face-to-face is just the right thing to do. He dropped everything and hopped on a plane."

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The Network

Obviously, Strautmanis' most important contacts are President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama . Strautmanis met Michelle before going to law school and quickly became friends with both Obamas. Another fellow Illinois Law student was Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. The friends spent long nights studying together at the International House of Pancakes.

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