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| Pete Souza |
Caption provided by the White House: President Barack Obama attends a women's dinner with staff in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House, Nov. 5, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Rogers also was chastised for doing magazine cover profiles, including one for the Wall Street Journal magazine in August 2009, in which she discussed how she was selling "the Obama brand." She admitted she now regrets the attention. "I would have declined more interviews that were brought to me," she said. "I'm not certain what the fascination was with me in particular. ... I think, you know, we could have managed all of that better." - Desiree Rogers
In today's Chicago Tribune, reporter Christi Parsons writes about the woman who has been by President Obama's side since the beginning of his campaign - Valerie Jarrett. The article described how they all encompassing advisor juggles all the many tasks that she deals with in any day including reaching out to businesses or helping with American engagement. They also noted that Valerie Jarrett is the only one standing in the White House while advisers Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, and now Robert Gibbs have left. "She has a unique relationship with the president, a deep understanding of him," said Axelrod, "That is critical to him. It's important to him to have people who have that relationship around him."She is a consensus builder who reinforces Obama's tendency toward centrism, but is also a voice for women and minorities in policy considerations. Her involvement in an issue has the presidential imprint. Her presence is seen as his proxy, as when she visited with the Dalai Lama while Obama first paid respects to the Chinese president. Jarrett was Obama's choice to be his liaison with business, a relationship that went sour right at the start.
Tina Tchen, a Chicago attorney who joined the Obama White House in 2009, will be First Lady Michelle Obama’s new chief of staff, replacing Susan Sher, who will be returning to Chicago after she steps down in a few weeks, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
Tchen’s name was always at the top of the list since Sher announced her departure last year. “A number of people were considered but I think from the perspective of the first lady, this was her enthusiastic choice,” Sher told me in an interview Wednesday morning.
"Because he's the President of the United States, he's not out there running the way he was before when he was the U.S. Senator. The American people expect him to lead. He's their President. He's everybody's President regardless of party affiliation."
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| Photo Credit: Reuters |
