04 October 2010

The Cabinet: White House Chief of Staff

White House chief of staff Peter Rouse

White House Chief of Staff Peter Rouse (Interim)

Peter Rouse was named interim White House chief of staff on October 1, 2010, replacing Rahm Emanuel. “From the moment I became a U.S. senator, [Rouse has] been one of my closest and most essential advisers,” Obama said in announcing the appointment. “He was my chief of staff in the Senate. He helped orchestrate and advise my presidential campaign. He has served as one of my senior advisers here at the White House. And in that role, he’s taken on a series of management and legislative challenges with his customary clarity and common purpose.”

Rouse is the grandson of Japanese immigrants. For more information, see “Asian American Named Obama’s Top Aide.”

Rouse replaces Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago native who represented the Illinois 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2002 to 2008 before taking the position in the Obama White House as chief of staff. Numerous U.S. media outlets have reported that Emanuel will be a mayoral candidate in the city of Chicago in 2011.

The Office of White House Chief of Staff, established 1952

Duties: The chief of staff is a senior aide to the president in a post that has been described as a gatekeeper and the second most powerful person in Washington. The chief of staff typically is involved in the president’s major decisions and frequently represents the president during negotiations with congressional leaders. Within the White House, the chief of staff manages the staff, sets the tone for the office operations and coordinates the work of the many offices within the Executive Office of the President.

History: The position, which is filled at the discretion of the president, was first established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and, for a time, Jimmy Carter opted not to have a chief of staff.

Fun fact: Actor Martin Sheen has played both the president and the chief of staff in fictional accounts of the U.S. presidency, playing the chief of staff in the film The American President and the president on the popular television show The West Wing.

More information: http://www.whitehouse.gov

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)