Attention has focused on Mr. Emanuel’s larger-than-life personality, but it is his operating style that matters more to Mr. Obama at this crucial juncture. What comes through in interviews with roughly 60 people in the White House, on Capitol Hill and around Washington is an intense engagement built on a series of testosterone-driven aphorisms:

“Put points on the board.”

“In politics, you’re either pitching or catching.”

“A man never stands as tall as when he is on all fours kissing” rear ends.

In other words, take what victories you can, stay on the offensive and do not be afraid to stroke big egos to advance the president’s agenda.

Mr. Emanuel, 49, starts his day shortly after 5 a.m., when he swims at the Y.M.C.A. and then hits the House gymnasium to pick up intelligence from colleagues from his days in Congress. At 7:30 a.m., he gathers top White House officials in his office and meets the full senior staff in the Roosevelt Room at 8:15 a.m. He then sees the president alone in the Oval Office for 10 minutes, a private session repeated at the end of each day.

Aides estimate he talks with 50 people a day by telephone and sends hundreds of e-mail messages. Phone calls often last a minute or two, just long enough to deliver a point or extract information. E-mail messages are often a word or two.

“It seems like he has a 72-hour day,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

But Mr. Emanuel casts his net widely, from lawmakers and lobbyists to journalists and corporate executives. When he took over the chief of staff’s office — an office that, he makes a point of telling visitors, is eight square feet larger than the vice president’s — he brought a telephone list of 6,000 names that crashed White House software.

“I’ve heard more from Rahm in six months than I heard from Andy Card in six years, and Card’s daughter worked for me,” said former Representative Tom Davis, Republican of Virginia, referring to a chief of staff under President George W. Bush.

Peter R. Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, noted one day this month that he had been with Mr. Emanuel in meetings from 8:15 a.m. until noon but still had three telephone calls and a dozen e-mail messages from him later that day.