Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel

The Chief of Staff is unofficially the second most powerful politician in America and most think this 49-year-old Jewish congressman will be just the man to keep the likes of Clinton, Gates and Biden in line. Like Obama, Emanuel hails from Chicago and has a reputation among Republicans for being keenly left-wing; unlike Obama he is famously aggressive, litters his speech with the word 'fuck' and gained the nickname Rahmbo during his time in Bill Clinton's administration. A colleague from the Clinton years said of Emanuel: "He's got this big old pair of brass balls, and you can just hear 'em clanking when he walks down the halls of Congress."

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 6, 2009