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URL: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26325227/briefing_obamas_west_wing

Rollingstone.com

Briefing: Obama's West Wing

Nothing says power like the corner office, especially when it's oval. A look at who's sitting where in the White House - and the access they have to the president

TIM DICKINSON

Posted Feb 25, 2009 2:38 PM

1 The Boss
President Obama has woven three different camps into his inner circle: old hands from his Chicago days, legislative pros with ties to Tom Daschle, and veterans of Bill Clinton's White House. His first-floor seating arrangement includes elements of all three.

2 The Brain
David Axelrod, who ran the president's campaign, sits even closer to Obama than Rove did to Bush; he is the only senior adviser with his own door to Obama's office. "It conveys that Axelrod is involved not only in communicating the president's positions but in formulating them," says a top veteran of the Obama campaign.

3 The Invisible Man
Pete Rouse, another senior adviser, never appears in the media. An ex-chief of staff to Tom Daschle, he maintains deep, bipartisan connections on Capitol Hill. "Rouse's the one who brought 'no drama' to Obama," says a top Democratic strategist. "His enforcement makes it work."

4 The Glue
As chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel unites Obama's team: He's Axelrod's best friend, a Capitol hill pro and the only top adviser who served in the Clinton White House. Obama gives him first and last word at staff meetings and entrusted him to shepherd the stimulus package.

5 The Ear
Vice President Joe Biden, who occupies Cheney's old office, has a weekly lunch with Obama. "I want to be the last guy in the room on every important decision," he says. But insiders say his clout may be undercut by special envoys abroad and issue "czars" at home.

6 The General
A low-profile former NATO commander, Gen. James L. Jones met Obama only twice before being tapped as a national security adviser. He will be the primary conduit of security information to Obama and is charged with reinventing hte National Security Council to encompass issues such as energy, climate and cybersecurity.

7 The Spokesman
Press secretary Robert Gibbs, who has worked for Obama since his 2004 Senate run, is "one of four or five guys who can walk into the president's office and sit in on meetings where every big decision is being made," says a Democrat in the know. The downside: Gibbs can't play Scott McLellan-dumb and tell reporters, "I don't know."

8 The Cabinet
Three members have already emerged as key players. Attorney General Eric Holder operates with Obama's full trust and few rivals. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner holds enormous sway over the bailout. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, never one to be counted out, is fighting a turf war with Geithner, expanding her portfolio to include China.

9 The Body Man
Other than Obama's secretary, no one sits closer to the president than Reggie Love, the former Duke basketball player who serves as his personal assistant and workout buddy. Love bought Obama an iPod and loaded it with Jay-Z. "There's no doubt that Reggie is cooler than I am," the president says.

Upstairs
The second floor of the West Wing includes several of Obama's closest personal confidants, including deputy counsel Cassandra Butts and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, who helped Obama put together his White House team. "I trust her completely," the president says. The office above the first-floor room is also home to Larry Summers (left), director of the National Economic Council, whose influence on the stimulus package has made him one of the WEst Wing's most powerful players. He has already openly flouted the "no drama" rule by feuding with other economic advisers.

Downstairs
The ground floor was supposed to have been headquarters for Tom Daschle (left), the only Cabinet nominee to be given an office in the West Wing. "Daschle got that office not just because he's a wily infighter who knows that physical proximity means influence," says a top Democrat. "He was an important sounding board and even mentor to Obama. His loss is massive. He provided an extraordinary sense of ballast to the place." Also missing from the West Wing is Carol Browner, Obama's ultimate czar, who has been dispatched to a room in the Old Executive Office Building next door to the White House.

[From Issue 1073 — March 5, 2009]

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