The Rahm goodbye: Grading Emanuel
As Obama's polarizing chief of staff steps down, a look at what he did right, and where he came up short

After his final day on the job Friday as White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel is widely assumed to be moving back to Chicago to run for mayor. What sort of legacy will he leave behind after nearly two years as President Obama's "right-hand man"? The "fascinating" thing, says Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post, "is that almost no one in Democratic politics is without an opinion" on Emanuel's tenure. Here's a look at some of his biggest perceived successes and failures:
SUCCESSES
1. The stimulus
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Emanuel's "warlike intensity" was a key factor in one of Obama's big accomplishments, the passage of "a stimulus package that experts say prevented a sour economy from getting even worse," says Peter Nicholas in the Chicago Tribune. And when Obama's economic advisers pushed for a package in excess of $1 trillion, "Emanuel warned that the price tag would create a kind of sticker shock. His argument prevailed."
2. Running a tight ship
Emanuel served as chief of staff "with enormous distinction!" says Nigel Hamilton in The Huffington Post. Look at President Clinton's first two years, for example: "Serial mishaps, scandals, leaks, indecision, and arguments over his co-president (his wife)." We saw none of that from the Obama White House.
3. Health care reform
"With Emanuel at the helm, the current administration has pulled off landmark victories," notably health care reform, says Tim Fernholz in The American Prospect. And it will surely "be seen as a miracle one day" that Rahm & Co. were able to push through such a piece of "crucial legislation" in the face of the GOP's "die-hard obstructionism," says Nigel Hamilton. Remember, "no president since FDR has managed to... bring health care reform that will finally stop penalizing tens of millions of the sick in the world's most prosperous economy."
4. Bringing some fight to the White House
As Obama's "fireplug prime minister," Emanuel's biggest contribution was his fiery "will to win and his organizational capacity," says The American Prospect's Fernholz. It says something that "he's the only Democratic operative... who has ever made Republicans nervous." Progressives won't miss his "policy advice," but "we'll come to miss Rahm's politics." Some of us non-liberals "are actually sad" about Rahm's departure, too, says Julie Mason in The Washington Examiner. Someone "so colorful!" and "so profane!" was a nice change of pace in the "boring" Obama White House.
FAILURES
1. Alienating key constituents
Primarily, liberals. Rahm's "mutually antagonistic relationship with progressive activists" dates back years, says The American Prospect's Fernholz. And even when it came to his big selling point as chief of staff, his arm-twisting prowess, says David Weigel at Slate, liberals "are convinced that he was a paper tiger, a hack who never missed a chance to weaken the progressive agenda and a man whose toughness never translated to big, meaningful victories over Republicans." He's not popular among Latinos, either, says Ruben Navarrette at CNN, since his longtime leeriness of immigration reform did much to push it "so far to the back burner that it nearly fell off the stove."
2. Keeping too high a profile
When the position of chief of staff was created in 1939, a key job requirement was a "passion for anonymity," says Charles Dunn in the Chicago Tribune. Well, "a passion for anonymity Rahm Emanuel does not have," and his historically high profile played a big part in "detracting attention from President Barack Obama and his agenda."
3. Health care reform
"Obama pursued health care reform over Emanuel's private objections," says the Chicago Tribune's Peter Nicholas. Too bad for Emanuel that his "incremental" approach was ignored by "the White House and its Congressional allies from San Francisco and Las Vegas," says The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. "We'll have to wait for Mr. Emanuel's White House memoir to learn whether he thinks ObamaCare was worth the demolition job it is about to do on his party in the Congressional elections"
4. The "f---ing retarded" flap
Emanuel famously has "the extraordinary capacity to throw F-bombs into almost every conversation," according to one White House aide, but at least one time it cost him pretty dearly. His off-the-cuff remark that a progressive push to shame conservative Democrats was "f---ing retarded" offended "advocates for the disabled," says the Tribune's Nicholas, and gave ammo to Sarah Palin, who used the occasion to call on Rahm to resign.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published