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Obama's Best Pal Keeps Him in Line

When Jarrett weighs in, prez listens

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 23, 2009 8:08 AM CDT

(Newser) – When the president has made up his mind, there’s one person who can change it: Valerie Jarrett, who acts as his “intermediary to the outside world,” Robert Draper writes in a hefty New York Times Magazine profile. “There are two people he’s not going to say no to: Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama,” says a state campaign manager. Every administration has one: she’s “The One Who Gets the Boss.”

That understanding dates back to their time in Chicago, where Jarrett advised the Obamas on every “major decision,” says Michelle’s chief of staff. Today, Jarrett is the White House’s link to big business, having run a multi-million dollar real estate development firm, and she keeps minority issues in the spotlight. “She’s like a sibling to me . . . I trust her completely,” the president says—even if she once thought his Senate bid was a “lousy idea.”

President Barack Obama walks with senior adviser Valerie Jarrett as they returned to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 10, 2009.
President Barack Obama walks with senior adviser Valerie Jarrett as they returned to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 10, 2009.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
This May 22, 2008, file photo shows Valerie Jarrett  in her office in Chicago.
This May 22, 2008, file photo shows Valerie Jarrett in her office in Chicago.   (AP Photo/Jerry Lai, File)
President Barack Obama, right, smiles at Valerie Jarrett, senior White House Advisor, as she introduces him at the at the Urban and Metropolitan Policy Roundtable in Washington Monday, July 13, 2009.
President Barack Obama, right, smiles at Valerie Jarrett, senior White House Advisor, as she introduces him at the at the Urban and Metropolitan Policy Roundtable in Washington Monday, July 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Barack Obama reacts with Senior White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett after a town hall meeting about health care, Wednesday, July 1, 2009.
President Barack Obama reacts with Senior White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett after a town hall meeting about health care, Wednesday, July 1, 2009.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
kokuaguy
Jul 23, 2009 6:29 AM CDT
My sainted mother was a self-taught real estate agent and later a broker. She used to lie awake nights worrying about ways to help deserving family members and friends find houses that were attainable and good investments. She helped my Dad who did not finish high school put 3 kids through college and the 4th to establish himself successfully in business. She did so by working from dawn to way past dusk remodeling and decorating every single family home we ever lived in and selling it for a tax free profit (the rule back then was that the profit had to be invested in another home within 18 months.) She died in a very sad way from emphysema that resulted from her only vice, nicotine addiction which she acquired as a worker in a Remington Arms plant during WWII because smokers were given an extra break the non-smokers were not. (I bet Remington was also heavily into tobacco companies too.)Doctors also told us that much of her lung damage came from life long exposure to fumes from paint, paint remover, etc. So please, remember my Mom next time you make such a sweepinng (but today sadly all too valid) generalization. ; ^)
Timinator2K
Jul 23, 2009 1:59 AM CDT
Obama bin Laden's BFF was in real estate? Ha! She's used to ripping off the public.

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