David Axelrod served as President-elect Obama's Chief Strategist during the presidential campaign, and led Obama's 2004 Senate campaign. A native of New York City, Axelrod graduated from the University of Chicago and spent eight years as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, where he covered national, state and local politics and became the youngest political writer and columnist in the paper's history. Leaving journalism in 1984, Axelrod managed Paul Simon's upset victory over incumbent U.S. Senator Charles Percy of Illinois. In 1985, he founded Axelrod & Associates, a political consulting firm known today as AKP&D Message and Media. Axelrod has worked for leading Democrats across the country, including Senators Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, and Herb Kohl, as well as Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Congressman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, and Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, along with mayors of big cities across the country. He is married to Susan Axelrod, president and founder of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE). They have three grown children.
Lisa Brown, a former White House counsel for Al Gore and currently the executive director of the American Constitution Society, will be Staff Secretary, where she'll be tasked with managing the flow of information and paper to and from President Obama. The name of the job -- "staff secretary" -- it at odds with its importance. Brown will have more face time with Obama than just about any other White House staffer.
Chris Lu, the executive director of the transition, will be cabinet secretary, where he'll manage the White House's relationship with agencies and Cabinet Secretaries. It's another vital behind-the-scenes job that's usually a stepping stone to an even more important frontline job. When agency heads have a problem, or when the White House has a problem with an agency head, Mr. Lu will be the first person who's called, or calls. Lu is a Harvard Law School classmate of Sen. Obama's.
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