19 Facts About Pete Rouse

1.

Peter Mikami Rouse was born on April 15,1946 and is an American political consultant who served as interim White House Chief of Staff to US President Barack Obama.

2.

When Daschle lost his seat in 2004, Pete Rouse was persuaded to stay in Congress as Chief of Staff to then-freshman Senator Barack Obama.

3.

Pete Rouse remained with the White House until late 2013 as Counselor to the President.

4.

Pete Rouse was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Mary Uta and Irving Pete Rouse.

5.

Pete Rouse's father was of English and some Bohemian descent, and his mother was of Japanese ancestry.

6.

Pete Rouse's mother grew up as a child only speaking Japanese.

7.

Pete Rouse returned to Japan in 1910 to marry his wife, before they then moved back to the US, eventually settling in Alaska in 1915.

8.

Pete Rouse had worked since 1985 for Daschle, whom he met as a fellow legislative assistant for Senator James Abourezk.

9.

On October 15,2001, Pete Rouse was the Daschle staff member to call the police about a letter that contained anthrax powder.

10.

Twenty of Daschle's staff subsequently tested positive for exposure to anthrax spores; it is not known if Pete Rouse was exposed along with his workmates.

11.

Pete Rouse had been chief of staff to South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle, the former majority leader, and was planning to retire after Daschle lost in 2004.

12.

However, in 2004, Pete Rouse was contacted by a law school friend of then-Illinois Senator Obama and chose to work for him as his chief of staff.

13.

Pete Rouse helped prepare a memo, "The Strategic Plan," for Obama's first year in the Senate.

14.

Pete Rouse has received salary payments above $140,000 during his years with Senator Obama.

15.

Pete Rouse said the Deputy Chiefs of Staff, Jim Messina and Mona Sutphen, "who run the place from day to day," report to him.

16.

In September 2009, the Washington Post reported that Pete Rouse was heading the White House's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

17.

When Rahm Emanuel left the White House in October 2010 to run for Mayor of Chicago, Pete Rouse became the "interim" Chief of Staff at the White House.

18.

Pete Rouse is the first Asian American Chief of Staff in US history.

19.

Pete Rouse was promoted to the role of Counselor to the President and remained with the White House through the end of 2013.