102 Facts About Rahm Emanuel

1.

Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States ambassador to Japan.

2.

Early in his career, Rahm Emanuel served as director of the finance committee for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign.

3.

In 2002, Rahm Emanuel ran for the seat in the US House of Representatives vacated by Rod Blagojevich, who resigned to become governor of Illinois.

4.

Rahm Emanuel won the first of three terms representing Illinois's 5th congressional district, a seat he held from 2003 to 2009.

5.

In October 2010, Rahm Emanuel resigned as chief of staff to run in the 2011 Chicago mayoral election.

6.

In October 2017, Rahm Emanuel announced he planned to run for a third term, but he reversed his decision on September 4,2018.

7.

Rahm Emanuel left office in May 2019 and was succeeded by Lori Lightfoot.

8.

Rahm Emanuel's paternal grandfather was a Moldovan Jew who emigrated from Bessarabia.

9.

Rahm Emanuel briefly owned a local rock and roll club, and later became an adherent of Benjamin Spock's writings.

10.

Rahm Emanuel was born on November 29,1959, in Chicago, Illinois.

11.

Rahm Emanuel attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in Lakeview for elementary school.

12.

Rahm Emanuel has been described by his older brother Ezekiel, an oncologist and bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, as "quiet and observant" as a child.

13.

Rahm Emanuel was encouraged by his mother to take ballet lessons, and is a graduate of the Evanston School of Ballet, as well as a student of The Joel Hall Dance Center, where his children later took lessons.

14.

Rahm Emanuel won a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet, but turned it down to attend Sarah Lawrence College, a liberal arts school with a strong dance program.

15.

Rahm Emanuel graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, and went on to receive a Master of Arts in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985.

16.

Rahm Emanuel took part in a two-week civilian volunteer holiday, known as the Sar-El, where, as a civilian volunteer, he assisted the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Gulf War, helping to repair truck brakes in one of Israel's northern bases.

17.

Rahm Emanuel's finger was partially amputated due to the severity of the infection.

18.

Rahm Emanuel began his political career with the public interest and consumer rights organization Illinois Public Action.

19.

Rahm Emanuel went on to serve in a number of capacities in local and national politics, initially specializing in fund-raising for Illinois campaigns, and then nationally.

20.

Rahm Emanuel worked for Democrat Paul Simon's 1984 election to the US Senate.

21.

Rahm Emanuel worked as the national campaign director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 1988, and was senior advisor and chief fund-raiser for Richard M Daley's successful initial campaign for mayor of Chicago, in 1989.

22.

At the start of then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's presidential primary campaign, Rahm Emanuel was appointed to direct the campaign's finance committee.

23.

Rahm Emanuel insisted that Clinton schedule time for fund-raising and delay campaigning in New Hampshire.

24.

Rahm Emanuel was a leading strategist in White House efforts to institute NAFTA, among other Clinton initiatives.

25.

Rahm Emanuel sent a dead fish in a box to a pollster who was late delivering polling results.

26.

However, by 2007 friends of Rahm Emanuel were saying that he has "mellowed out".

27.

In 2000, Rahm Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors of Freddie Mac by President Clinton.

28.

Rahm Emanuel earned at least $320,000 during his time there, including later stock sales.

29.

Rahm Emanuel resigned from the board in 2001 before his first bid for Congress.

30.

In 2002, Rahm Emanuel pursued the US House seat in the 5th district of Illinois, previously held by Rod Blagojevich, who successfully ran for governor of Illinois.

31.

Rahm Emanuel was elected after the October 2002 joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War, and so did not vote on it.

32.

However, in the lead up to the resolution, Rahm Emanuel spoke out in support of the war.

33.

In January 2003, Rahm Emanuel was named to the House Financial Services Committee and sat on the subcommittee that oversaw Freddie Mac.

34.

Rahm Emanuel skipped every hearing allegedly for reasons of avoiding any appearance of favoritism, impropriety, or conflict of interest.

35.

Rahm Emanuel assumed the position of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman after the death of the previous chair, Bob Matsui.

36.

Rahm Emanuel led the Democratic Party's effort to capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections.

37.

Rahm Emanuel had disagreements over Democratic election strategy with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

38.

Dean favored a "fifty-state strategy", building support for the Democratic Party over the long term, while Rahm Emanuel advocated a more tactical approach focusing attention on key districts.

39.

Rahm Emanuel recruited the right candidates, found the money, and funded them, and provided issues for them.

40.

Rahm Emanuel did what no one else could do in seven cycles.

41.

However, Rahm Emanuel faced some criticism for his failure to support some progressive candidates, as Howard Dean advocated.

42.

Rahm Emanuel had "aggressively recruited right-leaning candidates, frequently military veterans, including former Republicans".

43.

Many of the Representatives that Rahm Emanuel had recruited, such as Heath Shuler, ended up "[voting] against important Obama administration priorities, like economic stimulus, banking reform, and health care".

44.

Rahm Emanuel has maintained a 100-percent pro-choice voting record, supports LGBT rights including same-sex marriage, and is a strong supporter of gun control, rated "F" by the NRA in December 2003.

45.

Rahm Emanuel has strongly supported the banning of numerous rifles based upon "sporting purposes" criteria.

46.

In June 2007, Rahm Emanuel condemned an outbreak of Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip and criticized Arab countries for not applying the same kind of pressure on the Palestinians as they have on Israel.

47.

At a 2003 pro-Israel rally in Chicago, Rahm Emanuel told the marchers that Israel was "ready for peace" but would not get there until Palestinians "turn away from the path of terror".

48.

Rahm Emanuel declared in April 2006 that he would support Hillary Clinton should she pursue the presidency in 2008.

49.

However, Rahm Emanuel's loyalties came into conflict when his home-state Senator, Barack Obama, expressed interest in the race.

50.

On November 6,2008, Rahm Emanuel accepted the position of White House Chief of Staff for US President Barack Obama.

51.

Rahm Emanuel resigned his congressional seat effective January 2,2009.

52.

Rahm Emanuel has a reputation for his no-holds-barred negotiation style that involves "his share of shouting and cursing".

53.

Rahm Emanuel advocated a smaller plan because it could get bi-partisan support.

54.

Rahm Emanuel wanted to expand coverage for children, and increase the number of single mothers eligible for Medicaid.

55.

Reportedly, House Speaker Pelosi had to convince Obama on the health care initiative after Rahm Emanuel dramatically scaled it back.

56.

Rahm Emanuel has since apologized for his role, saying, "Thank God for the country, he didn't listen to me", after the Supreme Court upheld "ObamaCare" in 2012.

57.

In 2010, Rahm Emanuel was reported to have conflicts with other senior members of the president's team and ideological clashes over policy.

58.

Rahm Emanuel was the focal point of criticism from left-leaning Democrats for the administration's perceived move to the center.

59.

On September 30,2010, it was announced that Rahm Emanuel would leave his post as White House Chief of Staff to run for Mayor of Chicago.

60.

Rahm Emanuel was replaced by Pete Rouse on October 2,2010.

61.

Rahm Emanuel entered the race with high-name recognition, having not only a sizeable local profile, but a sizable national profile.

62.

Rahm Emanuel was by far the best-financed candidate, with more than three times the campaign funds as the second-best financed candidate, and more than twenty-times the third-best financed candidate.

63.

Rahm Emanuel's had his financial advantage from the very start of his candidacy, as he began his campaign with approximately $1.2 million from his congressional campaign fund.

64.

Rahm Emanuel was able to raise so much because he had experience fundraising, had built a Washington connections and a national profile, and his brother Ari had Hollywood connections.

65.

Rahm Emanuel had 75 contributors give more than $50,000, twenty-five of which were from out of state.

66.

Rahm Emanuel proposed lowering the city's sales tax and raising the service tax.

67.

Rahm Emanuel supported negotiating with the Chicago Teachers Union for longer school days and school years.

68.

Rahm Emanuel entered the race with solid backing from North and Northwest Side Democratic Ward Committeemen.

69.

Rahm Emanuel's advertisements showed portrayed him as having strong roots in the city, and, in telling his biography, emphasized his upbringing on the North Shore.

70.

Contrarily, Rahm Emanuel's opponents attempted to characterize him as a carpetbagger, hailing not from the city itself but rather from the North Shore and Washington, DC Rahm Emanuel's advertisements sought to emphasize his tenures in working in the White House and his tenure as a congressman.

71.

Rahm Emanuel sought to highlight the fact that he had forged connections in Washington during his time in congress, and had strong business ties.

72.

Rahm Emanuel held a lead with independent progressives, including strong support from the lakefront liberals voting bloc of wealthy white progressives from the city's northern lakefront.

73.

Since the Hispanic vote was largely split between two Hispanic candidates, once Rahm Emanuel was able to secure the support of the majority of the black vote, he had secured himself victory.

74.

Once this happened, Rahm Emanuel had all but secured himself a first-place finish, and the remaining candidates were left to jockey for second-place in hopes of there being a runoff.

75.

Rahm Emanuel carried the endorsements of both the city's major daily newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.

76.

When Chicago journalist Dan Sinker revealed himself, Rahm Emanuel donated the money to Young Chicago Authors, a community organization which helps young people with writing and publishing skills.

77.

In 2015, Rahm Emanuel won 56 percent of the vote in the run-off election against Jesus "Chuy" Garcia held on April 7,2015.

78.

Rahm Emanuel had been hurt by sharp neighborhood criticism of his decision to shut down 50 public schools in black and Latino neighborhoods, and his installation of red light cameras, together with anger at the high level of gun violence on the streets.

79.

The Chicago Tribune explained that this all-time low job approval record occurred after the public largely had disapproved of Rahm Emanuel's handling of the Laquan McDonald police shooting video, and the majority of the polled Chicagoans had felt that he was not justified in withholding the video from the public.

80.

Rahm Emanuel announced in October 2017 that he was running for reelection in 2019, despite low approval ratings and some potentially serious challengers.

81.

In September 2018, Rahm Emanuel then announced he would not run for reelection as previously announced.

82.

Close friend David Axelrod told USA Today that Rahm Emanuel had grown uncertain about his devotion to a third term.

83.

Rahm Emanuel had been leading in the polls prior to his decision to withdraw.

84.

At a news conference in November 2012, Rahm Emanuel listed his top three priorities for the state legislature as security and pension reform, adding a casino to Chicago, and equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

85.

Rahm Emanuel faced a great deal of criticism for his handling of the October 20,2014, police murder of Laquan McDonald.

86.

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass wrote that the Rahm Emanuel administration withheld from the public the police dashboard camera video of the shooting in order to secure the reelection.

87.

Rahm Emanuel responded to criticism of the shooting and how it was handled by firing police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

88.

On New Year's Eve, the Rahm Emanuel administration released e-mails revealing they had sought to coordinate with independent agencies such as the Independent Police Review Authority regarding public relations after the shooting.

89.

Rahm Emanuel initiated the consolidation of City Council committees from 19 to 16 in a cost control effort.

90.

On October 30,2012, Rahm Emanuel voiced his support for the demolition of the abandoned Prentice Women's Hospital Building, in order for Northwestern University, which owns the property, to build a new facility.

91.

Rahm Emanuel rejected requests under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act from The Chicago Tribune for various communication and information logs for himself and his staff, labelling it "unduly burdensome".

92.

In March 2017 Chicago Tribune reported Rahm Emanuel released 2,696 emails he had previously withheld.

93.

In 2011 Rahm Emanuel asked the City Council to appoint an independent third party negotiator, to avoid having the negotiation seen as biased.

94.

Rahm Emanuel announced preliminary plans to award Elon Musk a contract to build a Hyperloop between downtown Chicago and the city's O'Hare International Airport, although it would receive no public subsidies under this plan.

95.

Rahm Emanuel had been part of that transition as Obama's Chief of Staff designate.

96.

Hours after Rahm Emanuel left office, the magazine The Atlantic, where he had written a dozen essays in prior months, made him a contributing editor; however, this honorary title was withdrawn after black staff members objected.

97.

In June 2019, Rahm Emanuel joined Centerview Partners as a senior counselor.

98.

Since July 2019, Rahm Emanuel has served as a political analyst for ABC News.

99.

Rahm Emanuel presented his credentials to Japanese Emperor Naruhito on March 25,2022.

100.

Rahm Emanuel gained popularity with the Japanese public, in part by using the local rail transport system to get around Tokyo and across the country, frequently posting photographs of himself using the rail systems on Twitter.

101.

Rahm Emanuel is a close friend of fellow Chicagoan David Axelrod, chief strategist for Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaign, and Axelrod signed the ketuba, the Jewish marriage contract, at Rahm Emanuel's wedding.

102.

Each year during the winter holidays, Rahm Emanuel takes a family trip on which his children can be exposed to other cultures and parts of the world.