Rahm Emanuel, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Japan since March 25, 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019 and the 23rd White House Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2010, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois between 2003 and 2009.
Born in Chicago, Emanuel is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Northwestern University. Early in his career, Emanuel served as director of the finance committee for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. In 1993, he joined the Clinton administration, where he served as assistant to the president for political affairs and as Senior Advisor to the President for policy and strategy. Emanuel worked at the investment bank Wasserstein Perella & Co. from 1998 for two and a half years and served on the board of directors of Freddie Mac. In 2002, Emanuel ran for the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives vacated by Rod Blagojevich, who resigned to become governor of Illinois. Emanuel won the first of three terms representing Illinois's 5th congressional district, a seat he held from 2003 to 2009. As chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he oversaw Democratic wins in the 2006 United States House of Representatives elections, allowing the party to gain control of the chamber for the first time since 1994.
After the 2008 presidential election, President Barack Obama appointed Emanuel to serve as White House chief of staff. In October 2010, Emanuel resigned as chief of staff to run for Mayor of Chicago in 2011. Emanuel won with 55% of the vote over five other candidates in the non-partisan mayoral election. In the 2015 election, he failed to obtain an absolute majority in the first round, but defeated Cook County board commissioner Jesús "Chuy" García in the subsequent run-off election. In late 2015, Emanuel's approval rating plunged to "the low 20s" in response to a series of scandals.Emanuel announced in October 2017 he planned to run for a third term, but on September 4, 2018, he reversed his decision. The Chicago Tribune assessed Emanuel's performance as mayor as "mixed." At one point, half of Chicagoans favored Emanuel's resignation. He later made steady progress in recovering his political support. He left office in May 2019 and was succeeded by Lori Lightfoot. In August 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Emanuel to be the United States Ambassador to Japan; he was confirmed by the Senate in December of that year.