Those in search of clues to the administration that began taking shape in Washington this week could do worse than look for traces of the woman who is called, only half-jokingly, the other half of Barack Obama’s brain.
Valerie Jarrett is a Chicago business woman who has been close to both Obamas since the couple began dating. Jarrett is one of a triumvirate in charge of the president-elect’s transition team. But that perhaps would be understating the role of the most powerful woman and African-American in Obama’s inner circle.
Although Obama is a man who has claimed many mentors, Jarrett has been a constant in his life. And unlike him, Jarrett (51) is steeped in the politics of Chicago and the African-American experience. Her great-grandfather was the first African-American to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She has been close to Obama and his wife, Michelle, since 1991, when she hired Michelle to work for her in the office of Chicago’s mayor, Richard Daley. Michelle brought Obama, her then-fiancé, along to the job interview.
Jarrett was a behind-the-scenes presence throughout the Obama campaign, but her influence should not be under-estimated. ”I am a sounding board. I know him well. I know them both well. So I kind of know what makes them who they are. And I don’t have a portfolio, so I can come in really only looking at it from their perspective. I have never been through a campaign before on a national level. I’m not a pollster, I’m not a strategist. I’m freed up from all of that.” Jarrett told Vogue recently.
Though she has been mentioned for possible Cabinet posts she would perhaps be a more comfortable fit with the freer range of a White House adviser. She is also discussed as a possible replacement for Obama’s Senate seat, although there are others, not least Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.
Other women occupied more visible Obama campaign positions over the nearly two-year race for the White House.
There was a trio of Democratic governors: early supporters Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Janet Napolitano of Arkansas, and, recently, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan. At one point, Sebelius was on Obama’s shortlist of potential vice-presidents. Her name is in circulation again as a possible secretary for health or education, or for an environmental post.
Napolitano and Granholm have been drafted in to offer advice on the economy and the transition.
Newspapers in Arizona on Friday suggested that Napolitano could be a candidate for attorney general. There has also been speculation that Granholm could be in line for a Cabinet post.
Obama has also relied on Claire McCaskill, a Missouri senator who was an early supporter. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman who initially supported Hillary Clinton, has also impressed Democrats as an effective advocate for the Obama camp.
On the policy side, the most visible woman on the Obama campaign has been Susan Rice, an expert on Africa who served in the Clinton administration. Rice (43) grew up in Washington and was a Rhodes scholar.
In the Clinton administration, she was a protege of Madeleine Albright, and moved up from a post on the national security council to work as an assistant secretary of state for Africa.
Cassandra Butts, who met Obama while both were filling in forms for financial aid in their early days at Harvard law school, has been his adviser on domestic policy. – guardian.co.uk