Rahm Emanuel Chief of Staff

With only 74 days until his inauguration, Obama is busy building his administration. His transition team is set and ready, having recently received their security clearance. The president-elect did not have to look very far to make his first appointment. He selected Rahm Israel Emanuel, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives representing Illinois's 5th Congressional district, to be his White House Chief of Staff. This will not be Emanuel's first trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He served in the Clinton Administration as a political and policy adviser. After serving President Clinton, Emanuel worked in investment banking before winning his House seat. 

As a side note, it is interesting to me that Obama's first appointee also has an interesting middle name, Israel. This is especially interesting considering Israel's reaction to the election of Barack Obama. On the night before the election, the headline in the Haaretz newspaper was "So is Obama a Danger to Israel After All?" The main point of contention for most Israelis is Obama's stated intention to put dialogue with Iran about its nuclear weapons ahead of confrontation. Many Israelis fear that Obama will be softer on terrorism than the Bush Administration.