WASHINGTON AND CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama began to assemble his new administration Wednesday, offering the White House chief of staff job to a hard-charging member of the Democratic congressional leadership and announcing the heads of a transition staff that will help fill his Cabinet and lay out an agenda for his four-year term.
A day after his decisive victory over Arizona Republican John McCain, Obama spent a rare day in seclusion, exercising at a private gym near his home and later presiding over meetings and a conference call to thank his campaign staff.
He also made one of the most consequential personnel choices he will face, asking Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) to be his chief of staff, according to campaign and congressional officials. There was no indication of Emanuel's response as of Wednesday night.
The White House chief of staff is often a power broker in his own right, making sure the president's decisions are properly executed and acting as a gatekeeper to the Oval Office. As former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emanuel is credited with the party's success in regaining control of Congress in 2006.
Smart and intense, the 48-year-old Emanuel is a veteran of Bill Clinton's White House. He is among the most charismatic figures on Capitol Hill, revered by many Democrats for restoring the party's clout and loathed by some Republicans for his partisan tactics. In the multitude of Emanuel stories, one stands out: the time he boxed up a dead fish and sent it to a political foe, "Godfather"-style.
Obama's transition staff will be based in Washington with a satellite office in Chicago. The president-elect plans to spend most of the 2 1/2 - month transition period in Chicago, flying to Washington as needed.
Obama "can count on complete cooperation from my administration as he makes the transition to the White House," President Bush said Wednesday. He congratulated Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden on what he called "their impressive victory." As part of the transition, they will start to receive daily national intelligence briefings.
Advisors said that Obama would announce several White House staff appointments today. A priority will be filling two Cabinet positions: Homeland Security and Treasury. With the economy foundering and national security a perennial worry, Obama wants those posts filled as soon as mid-November, one advisor said.
