A Different Kind of White House

"One strategist calls Emanuel an 'inspired choice' for Obama. . . .

"'A chief of staff has to have steel in his spine and Rahm has that in ample measure,' said William Galston, a former Clinton domestic policy aide who worked with Emanuel in the Clinton White House."

Jonathan Weisman and Deborah Solomon write in the Wall Street Journal: "Mr. Emanuel and Sen. Obama, close friends from Chicago, would be a study in contrasts, but congressional sources say that is intentional. Mr. Emanuel wouldn't be a back-room conciliator who brings disparate voices to consensus, but an enforcer who bangs heads and keeps the troops in line."

Obama has also tapped John D. Podesta, the former Clinton White House chief of staff, to lead his transition team. Peter Baker and Jeff Zeleny write in the New York Times: "In turning to Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Podesta, Mr. Obama sought out two of the hardest-hitting veterans of President Bill Clinton's administration, known for their deep Washington experience, savvy and no-holds-barred approach to politics. Neither is considered a practitioner of the 'new politics' that Mr. Obama promised on the campaign trail to bring Republicans and Democrats together, suggesting that the cool and conciliatory new president is determined to demonstrate toughness from the beginning."

Profiles

Elisabeth Bumiller wrote about Emanuel -- and his two similarly over-achieving brothers -- in the New York Times in 1997: "The best Rahm Emanuel story is not the one about the decomposing two-and-a-half-foot fish he sent to a pollster who displeased him. It is not about the time - the many times - that he hung up on political contributors in a Chicago mayor's race, saying he was embarrassed to accept their $5,000 checks because they were $25,000 kind of guys. No, the definitive Rahm Emanuel story takes place in Little Rock, Ark., in the heady days after Bill Clinton was first elected President.

"It was there that Emanuel, then Clinton's chief fund-raiser, repaired with George Stephanopoulos, Mandy Grunwald and other aides to Doe's, the campaign hangout. Revenge was heavy in the air as the group discussed the enemies - Democrats, Republicans, members of the press - who wronged them during the 1992 campaign. Clifford Jackson, the ex-friend of the President and peddler of the Clinton draft-dodging stories, was high on the list. So was William Donald Schaefer, then the Governor of Maryland and a Democrat who endorsed George Bush. Nathan Landow, the fund-raiser who backed the candidacy of Paul Tsongas, made it, too.

"Suddenly Emanuel grabbed his steak knife and, as those who were there remember it, shouted out the name of another enemy, lifted the knife, then brought it down with full force into the table.

"'Dead!' he screamed.

"The group immediately joined in the cathartic release: 'Nat Landow! Dead! Cliff Jackson! Dead! Bill Schaefer! Dead!'"

Joshua Green wrote in Rolling Stone in 2005: "Emanuel was the political brains of Bill Clinton's White House. Intense to the point of ferocity, he was known for taking on the most daunting tasks -- the ones no one else wanted -- and pulling off the seemingly impossible, from banning assault weapons to beating back the Republican-led impeachment. 'Clinton loved Rahm,' recalls one staffer, 'because he knew that if he asked Rahm to do something, he would move Heaven and Earth -- not necessarily in that order -- to get it done.'"

Steve Hendrix opened his 2006 profile of Emanuel for The Washington Post by describing how he ate a corned beef sandwich: "Sitting in a South Side deli, Rahm Emanuel doesn't so much eat his lunch as overwhelm it with two hands and a hard stare. It's a combat glower familiar to the political opponents, reluctant donors and more than a few allies who have encountered the White House fixer-turned-Democratic-congressman in his still-young career. By most accounts, they usually didn't fare much better than the sandwich."

And that story featured a quote from a little-known senator at the time: "'He's a great strategist, but I actually think he cares more about the policy side of it,' says Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is close to Emanuel and is campaigning with him for several [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] candidates in the final weeks. 'He likes to talk tough, but deep under that crusty exterior is someone who believes that government can make a difference in people's lives.'"