Obama makes it official, finally: Emanuel quitting chief of staff’s job, Rouse in as interim

Emanuel gone, Rouse in as chief of staff

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday said a bittersweet goodbye to the energetic and fierce manager of his White House, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, and elevated a quiet and seasoned adviser, Pete Rouse, to the most important gate-keeping job in American politics.

“We could not have accomplished what we’ve accomplished without Rahm’s leadership,” Obama said. Emanuel is departing after nearly two grueling years to run for Chicago mayor.

The announcement was such a poorly kept secret that Obama joked it was “the least suspenseful announcement of all time,” but it represented an important moment of transition for the presidency.

What Emanuel leaves behind is more than a staff job. It is the most demanding and influential position in the White House — save for Obama’s. The person who holds it is entrusted to help shape the president’s thinking, prioritize his time, manage scores of egos and issues and keep the White House focused on its goals.

The mood at the White House reflected that this was no ordinary staff change. Cabinet members and senior staff members packed the ornate East Room, a setting often reserved for visits of heads of state, for the official word that Emanuel, the hard-charging leader of the staff, was on his way out.

Rouse, named interim chief of staff, is a calm, trusted senior adviser to Obama who has spent much of his career as a chief of staff in the Senate.

“There is a saying around the White House: ‘Let’s let Pete fix it,’” Obama said. “And he does.”

In a nod to the political sensitivities of Emanuel’s move, he never directly mentioned that he was running for mayor, and Obama didn’t touch that, either. Emanuel, sure to be cast as an outsider by his competitors in the upcoming mayoral campaign, did not want to announce his run from Washington.

But Emanuel did call Chicago “the greatest city in the greatest country in the world.” And he told Obama, “I’m energized by the prospect of new challenges, and eager to see what I can do to make our hometown even greater.” The president and Emanuel, confidants and friends, hugged three times during the event.

“Mr. President, I thought I was tough,” Emanuel told Obama. “I want to thank you for being the toughest leader any country could ask for in the toughest times any president has ever faced.”

In an unusual display of emotion, Emanuel appeared to choke up as he spoke of his family’s immigrant background, and the opportunities he himself has been afforded.

Rouse, befitting his style, stood quietly by the president and never spoke. Obama described him as never seeing a television camera or a microphone that he liked — unlike the boisterous Emanuel. The differences were even apparent on stage — Rahm with his trademark hands on hips, Rouse still and stoic.

Obama’s choice of a permanent chief of staff will come in the context of a personnel reorganization, with some key players already planning to leave the White House grind and others likely seeing changes in their portfolios. The results of the Nov. 2 House and Senate midterm elections will also be a factor.

The mantra in the West Wing is that no one who works for the president is irreplaceable. And yet that’s how they described Emanuel, a whirling force of ideas and energy with expertise in foreign policy, political campaigns, communications and the legislative process. Obama’s aides talk of an unquestioned loss.

More than 150 staff members filled the seats of the East Room, snapping photos. The atmosphere was more joyful than sad, though the mood turned sober as Obama ticked through the list of problems they tackled together in the first 20 months of the administration.

Any feel-good reflection came in contrast to the political realities of the day. No sooner had Washington veteran Rouse been introduced than the Republican National Committee condemned the president for the choice, calling it an expansion of an “insular and out of touch White House.”

Emanuel’s move pits him against a growing field of local politicians vying for the job that will be vacated next spring by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who announced in early September that he will not seek a seventh term. Emanuel’s victory in the race is no given, with rivals certain to attack the longtime political operative and former congressman as a brusque outsider who belongs more to Pennsylvania Avenue than Michigan Avenue.

Associated Press writers Erica Werner and Julie Pace contributed to this story.