Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician. He is the United States Ambassador to Japan since 2022. He was the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019. Emanuel was the White House Chief of Staff during the Barack Obama administration from 2009 until 2010. Between 2003 and 2009, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives for Illinois's 5th congressional district. He also was an advisor to President Bill Clinton between 1993 until 1998.

Early life
Emanuel was born on November 29, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois to a Jewish family. He studied at Sarah Lawrence College and at Northwestern University.

Political career

U.S. representative (2003-2009)
He was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , from 2003 until his resignation in 2009 to become a member of the Obama Administration. He is the first Jewish mayor of Chicago.

Emanuel was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 mid-term elections and remained a top strategist for House Democrats during the 2008 cycle.  After Democrats regained control of the House in 2006, Emanuel was elected chairman of the Democratic Caucus.  This made him the fourth-ranking House Democrat, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.

White House Chief of Staff (2009-2010)
Two days after Obama's election victory, Emanuel was announced as Obama's designee for White House Chief of Staff. He resigned from the House on January 2, 2009, and began his duties as Chief of Staff on January 20, 2009, the day of Obama's inauguration.

Mayor of Chicago (2011-2019)
Emanuel resigned as Chief of Staff effective October 1, 2010, in order to run for Mayor of Chicago pending the announced retirement of six term incumbent Richard M. Daley.

On January 27, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling that had cast doubt on Emanuel's candidacy; the court unanimously decided that Emanuel did not abandon his Chicago residency by serving in the White House, thus affirming his ability to run for mayor.  He won the Mayoral election on February 22, 2011, with 55% of the vote.  President Obama appointed William M. Daley, the brother of Emanuel's predecessor as mayor, as Chief of Staff to replace Emanuel.

Emanuel created a transition team from varied backgrounds. On November 16, the city council voted unanimously to adopt the mayor's first budget, which decreased the budget by $34 million and increased spending by $46.2 million, supported by increasing fees and fines. Despite most Aldermen opposing cuts to library workers and the closure of mental health clinics, they ultimately supported it, calling it "honest". At a news conference in November 2012, Emanuel listed his top three priorities for the state legislature as security and pension reform, adding a casino to Chicago, and equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. At a press conference with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who previously vetoed legislation to put a casino in Chicago, the two were "very close" to reaching a deal.

Emanuel won his second term during the run-off re-election campaign. He defeated Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. Emanuel won 56.76% of the votes.

In November and into December 2015, Emanuel has been criticized for his handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting, mainly for covering and allowing Chicago police to get away with excessive use of force on black minorities. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass wrote that the Emanuel administration withheld from the public the police dashboard camera video of the Laquan McDonald shooting in order to secure the re-election. Since December 2015, over half of Chicagoans believe that Emanuel should resign with such support from the New York Times, Al Sharpton, Black Lives Matter, U.S senator Bernie Sanders and Illinois governor Bruce Rauner.

Despite growing disapproval ratings, Emanuel announced his candidacy for re-election in the 2019 mayoral race, though there are petitions seeking for a two-term limit for Chicago mayors. However, on September 4, 2018, Emanuel reversed this decision and stated he would not seek a third term.

Biden administration
When Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, he wanted to pick Emanuel as the United States Secretary of Transportation.Initially, Emanuel was considered for Transportation secretary in the Biden administration. However, many progressives were against this because of his handling of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald. 

It was reported in February 2021 that Emanuel was being considered by the Biden administration as an ambassador to either China or Japan. In April 2021 it was reported that Biden had chosen him for ambassador to Japan. In May 2021, Biden formally nominated Emmanuel to serve as ambassador to Japan. His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 18, 2021. He met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in February 2022.

Personal life
While a high school student working part-time at an Arby's restaurant, Emanuel severely cut his right middle finger on a meat slicer, which was later infected from swimming in Lake Michigan. His finger was partially amputated due to the severity of the infection.

Emanuel married Amy Merritt Rule in 1994. They have three children. They live in Ravenswood, Chicago.

References

Other websites

 Chicago for Rahm Emanuel mayoral campaign site
 Office of the Mayor at City of Chicago
 Profile at CityMayors.com
 Profile: Rahm Emanuel at BBC News, 7 November 2008
 Profile  at SourceWatch
 Profile at the Jewish Virtual Library
 
 Rahm Emanuel  archive at the Chicago Reader
 Rahm Emanuel news, photos and video at the Chicago Tribune
 Articles about Rahm Emanuel at the Chicago Tribune

 

1959 births
Living people
Emanuel
White House Chiefs of Staff
United States representatives from Illinois
US Democratic Party politicians
Ambassadors of the United States to Japan
American political commentators