Changes

==Senior Staff==

==Senior Staff==

[[File:Rahm Emanuel.jpg|thumb|200px|Rahm Emanuel]]

Bill Daley replaced [[Rahm Emanuel]] as chief of staff in early 2011; Emanuel retired under a cloud to run for Mayor of Chicago after allegations favors were promised to Rep. [[Joe Sestak]] in the [[Jobsgate]] scandal; [[Robert Gibbs]] was ousted as press secretary in thge wake of the disasterous [[2010 Midterm elections]]; Gregory Craig last less than a year as White House counsel;<ref>http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1940537,00.html</ref> old Chicago hand [[Valerie Jarrett]] remains while [[David Axelrod]] also fell victim the midterm White Hoiuse shake up.

[[Rahm Emanuel]], a former Congressman, has the central role of chief of staff; [[Robert Gibbs]] is press secretary; Gregory Craig is White House counsel; old Chicago hands [[Valerie Jarrett]] and [[David Axelrod]] are key policy and political advisors. Each is paid an annual $172,000.

In private White House strategy sessions Dana Milbank of the ''[[Washington Post]]'' reports Emanuel bitterly opposed the effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, arguing that it wasn't politically feasible. Obama overruled Emanuel. Emanuel fought against the plan to send [[Khalid Sheik Mohammed]] to New York for a trial. Emanuel lost. On health care Emanuel argued for a smaller bill with popular items that could win [[Republican]] support and opposed the public option as a needless distraction. Obama disregarded that strategy and sided with Congressional liberals who hoped to ram a larger, less popular bill through Congress with Democratic votes only. Milbank writes,

In private White House strategy sessions Dana Milbank of the ''[[Washington Post]]'' reports Emanuel was bitterly opposed the effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, arguing that it wasn't politically feasible. Obama overruled Emanuel. Emanuel fought against the plan to send [[Khalid Sheik Mohammed]] to New York for a trial. Emanuel lost. On health care Emanuel argued for a smaller bill with popular items that could win [[Republican]] support and opposed the public option as a needless distraction. Obama disregarded that strategy and sided with Congressional liberals who hoped to ram a larger, less popular bill through Congress with Democratic votes only. Milbank writes,

{{Cquote|Obama's first year fell apart in large part because he didn't follow his chief of staff's advice on crucial matters...Obama's problem is that his other confidants -- particularly Valerie Jarrett and Robert Gibbs, and, to a lesser extent, David Axelrod -- are part of the Cult of Obama. In love with the president, they believe he is a transformational figure who needn't dirty his hands in politics.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021904298_pf.html</ref><ref>[http://video.foxnews.com/v/4080748/obamas-right-hand-man/?playlist_id=87249]</ref>}}

{{Cquote|Obama's first year fell apart in large part because he didn't follow his chief of staff's advice on crucial matters...Obama's problem is that his other confidants -- particularly Valerie Jarrett and Robert Gibbs, and, to a lesser extent, David Axelrod -- are part of the Cult of Obama. In love with the president, they believe he is a transformational figure who needn't dirty his hands in politics.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021904298_pf.html</ref><ref>[http://video.foxnews.com/v/4080748/obamas-right-hand-man/?playlist_id=87249]</ref>}}