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Rahm Emanuel is a center of attention, not always gracefully, as President Obama’s chief of staff.(Haraz N. Ghanbari/Associated Press)WASHINGTON-Earlier this month, Barack Obama was meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers when Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, began nervously cracking a knuckle.Mr. Obama then turned to complain to Mr. Emanuel about his noisy habit.At which point, Mr. Emanuel held the offending knuckle up to Mr. Obama’s left ear and-like an annoying little brother-snapped off a few special cracks.The episode, relayed by someone familiar with the incident, underscores some essential truths about Mr. Emanuel: He is brash, has a deep comfort level with his new boss, and has been ever-present at Mr. Obama’s side of late, in meetings, on podiums and in numerous photographs.There he was, standing at Mr. Obama’s desk in one of the first Oval Office pictures; there he was again, playfully thumbing his nose at his former House colleagues during the inauguration; there he was, accompanying the president to a meeting with Congressional leaders on Friday.Mr. Emanuel is arguably the second most powerful man in the country and, just a few days into his tenure, already one of the highest-profile chiefs of staff in recent memory. He starred in his own Mad magazine cartoon, won the “Your New Obama Hottie” contest on Gawker.com and has become something of a paparazzi icon around Washington.In recent months, he has played a critical role in the selection and courtship of nearly every cabinet member and key White House staff member.Renowned as a fierce partisan, he has been an ardent ambassador to Republicans, including Mr. Obama’s defeated rival, Senator John McCain. He has exerted influence on countless decisions; in meetings, administration officials say, Mr. Obama often allows him to speak first and last.“You can see how he listens and reacts to Rahm,” said Ron Klain, the chief of staff to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. “You can see that his opinion is being shaped.”One reason Mr. Emanuel, 49, has drawn so much attention is that he seems to be in a kind of recalibration mode.How will the feisty, bombastic and at times impulsive former congressman blend with the cool, collegial and deliberate culture of Obama World? And one that is trying to foster bipartisanship? This is someone who once wrote in Campaign and Elections magazine that “the untainted Republican has not yet been invented” and who two years ago-according to a book about Mr.Emanuel(“The Thumpin’ ” by Naftali Bendavid)-announced to his staff that Republicans are “bad people who deserve a two-by-four upside their heads.”
By Mark Leibovich
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