We’ve been in Obama overdose mode, charmed by his swag, speech, and supremacy. But now that the man is officially in office (pinch me), it’s time to take a look at some of his team—the specially selected few that will spearhead his efforts for the next four (but hopefully eight) years.
Valerie Jarrett: Transition Team Co-Chair, White House Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison.
One of Mr. Obama’s many mentors, she has been the most longstanding, as the two met years ago, when as a corporate attorney (the Chief of Staff in the Daley Administration), Jarrett hired a certain Ivy-Leaguer—our First Lady Michelle. She’s been coaching the couple ever since. Plus, the Stanford and University of Michigan Law School grad has got maverick in her blood; her great-grandfather was the first African-American to graduate from M.I.T., her grandfather the first black man to head the Chicago Housing Authority, and her father the first black resident at St. Luke’s Hospital. Who wouldn’t want that kind of brainpower on their team?
Susan Rice: Ambassador to the United Nations, Transition Team Co-Leader.
Even with loyalties to the Clinton’s—she served eight years at the White House and the State Department during Bill’s administration—Rice signed on with Mr. Obama at a time when Senator Hillary Rodham was thought to be the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. For more than two years now, she has ran with Obama as senior foreign policy adviser to his campaign. She received her Masters and a Doctorate degree from Oxford, and has expertise in handling problems posed by global poverty and security threats, so her input is essential. No one likes a traitor, but for her, I’ll make an exception.
Cassandra Butts: Deputy White House counsel, with a focus on domestic policy and ethics.
She and Barack go way back. They met on the financial aid line at Harvard Law School, and she’s still holding his constitutional law book as collateral for a Miles Davis/John Coltrane album he has yet to return to her. She did litigation and policy work for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and has 17 years’ experience in politics and policy, with expertise in civil rights issues, domestic policy, health care and education. When you’re big-time, longtime friends are needed to help keep you grounded, so she’s definitely in.
Lisa Jackson: Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
The Tulane University School of Chemical Engineering grad also earned a master’s in the same subject at Princeton University. As commissioner to New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, she cracked down on polluters, ended the publicized bear hunt, and announced a plan to significantly reduce carbon emissions over the next decade. She, too, was an avid Clinton supporter, even once donating to her campaign, but just last year did she begin to support Obama. Once named Jon Corzine’s chief of staff, Jackson became the first woman and first African-American to hold the title. We’re all going “green” anyway, she might as well teach us how.
Melody Barnes: Director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House
For almost eight years, Barnes served as chief counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she worked on civil rights, women’s health, religious liberties and judicial appointments. She was also senior domestic policy adviser during Obama’s campaign, but in 2002 her name came up in a dispute when it was suggested that Senate Democrats might have tried to influence the outcome of a high-profile affirmative action case by delaying the judge’s confirmation. The charge was later rejected. Also, Barnes was featured last year in a local magazine article on 10 well-dressed Washington women. Coming out unscathed, while still looking good? Sign her up.
You know how it goes – they say behind every great man…
-Danielle Cheesman
