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NEWS
Obama Appoints Son of Israeli Emigrants as White House
Chief of Staff
By R. Hoffner
President Elect Barak Obama appointed Congressman Rahm
Emanuel (D-Illinois), who was born to Israeli emigrants, as
White House Chief of Staff. After hesitations because of the
strain the job would place on his family, Emanuel notified
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he had decided to take on the
job. He currently represents Illinois' 5th congressional
district, which covers much of the north side of Chicago and
parts of suburban Cook County.
Chief of Staff is considered the second most important post
in the White House, and the person who holds it is in
practice the closest figure to the president. He decides who
is given access to him and regularly takes part in setting US
policy on a broad range of issues and even in meetings with
foreign leaders. Some former presidents, such as Richard
Nixon and Ronald Reagan, granted their respective chiefs of
staff extensive authority similar to powers vested in prime
ministers.
The Chief of Staff generally handles internal policy matters,
while the White House National Security Advisor is in charge
of foreign affairs. Certain White House chiefs of staff went
on to political careers, such as Vice President Dick Cheney
and Alexander Haig and James Baker, both of who went on to
serve as secretary of state.
The outgoing chief of staff is Jewish lawyer Joshua
Bolten.
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