Rahm Israel Emanuel (/rɑːm/; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, diplomat, and former investment banker who served as United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms from 2003 to 2009. He was the White House chief of staff from 2009 to 2010 under President Barack Obama, and served as mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019.
Born in Chicago, Emanuel is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Northwestern University. Early in his career, Emanuel served as director of the finance committee for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. In 1993, he joined the Clinton administration, where he served as assistant to the president for political affairs and as senior advisor to the president for policy and strategy. Emanuel worked at the investment bank Wasserstein Perella & Co. from 1998 for two-and-a-half years, and served on the board of directors of Freddie Mac. In 2002, he ran for the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives vacated by Rod Blagojevich, who resigned to become governor of Illinois. Emanuel won the first of three terms representing Illinois's 5th congressional district, a seat he held from 2003 to 2009. As chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he oversaw Democratic wins in the 2006 U.S. House of Representatives elections, allowing the party to gain control of the chamber for the first time since 1994.
