Pete Rouse is known for being extremely methodical. New chief of staff knows everyone

Between Barack Obama’s election and inauguration, Pete Rouse was known as the transition’s “keeper of the list”: He knew who was supposed to get jobs, who was owed favors.

Rouse, 64, is invisible to most of Washington, figuratively and literally: He rarely talks to reporters, and never on the record. In most White House photographs, his back is to the camera.


Suddenly, he is in the spotlight as the interim successor to Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff. Rouse will hold the job for the foreseeable future – certainly through the Nov. 2 elections, and perhaps until the end of the year — while the president decides on a permanent replacement.

Rouse is known for being extremely methodical, and administration sources say he will give the West Wing more structure than it has had under the more improvisational Emanuel.

For example, Emanuel favored hiring a female CEO to succeed Larry Summers, the president’s departing economic adviser. But Rouse will “run a process,” according to a colleague, assessing what kind of person and skills are needed before making a recommendation to Obama.

Rouse was chief of staff for members of Congress for more than 30 years before coming to the White House – for a freshman senator from Illinois, one Barack Obama; for Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (19 years); briefly for then-Rep. Dick Durbin of Illinois; and earlier for then-Lt. Gov. Terry Miller of Alaska.

As Obama’s only Senate chief of staff, Rouse helped draw up a plan (known internally as “The Plan”) for building the freshman’s Washington clout and national visibility, and prepared the first written plan for how he could run for president.

Unknown to most of Washington, Rouse has amassed what is perhaps the city’s most powerful alumni club: Many of the city’s most powerful Democratic operatives and lobbyists had worked for him – before he came to the White House

“Rouse has an eye for talent, and they remain loyal to him for years. It’s how the Obama campaign was staffed,” a White House official.

As one example, Rouse gave Rodell Mollineau his first job in Washington, as a staff assistant for Daschle. Now, Mollineau is head of communications for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.).

The Rouse alumni club also includes: Michele Ballantyne of the Recording Industry Association of America; White House Counsel Bob Bauer; Mark Childress, acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services; DNC Executive Director Jen O'Malley Dillon; Anita Dunn, managing director of SKDKnickerbocker; Jon Favreau, chief White House speechwriter; Sarah Feinberg, a Bloomberg L.P. director of communication and business strategy; White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs; former Clinton official Patrick Griffin; Steve Hildebrand, deputy national campaign manager of Obama for America; White House personnel director Nancy Hogan; Joel Johnson, a managing director of The Glover Park Group; and Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden.

Also, Mark Lippert, former National Security Council chief of staff; Chris Lu, Cabinet Secretary; Alyssa Mastromonaco, White House Director of Scheduling and Advance; Denis McDonough, NSC chief of staff; Mark Patterson, Treasury chief of staff; Jeff Nussbaum, top Democratic speechwriter; Laura Petrou, HHS chief of staff; White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer; John Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress; Christina Reynolds of The Glover Park Group; Phil Schiliro, White House head of legislative affairs; White House Social Secretary Julianna Smoot; Mitch Stewart, executive director of Organizing for America; Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff in the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs; and Democratic consultant Paul Tewes.

A top Democrat e-mailed: “The Rouse Legend and Legion are HUGE!”

Jamal Simmons, a Democratic consultant, said: “I’ve heard people who have worked for Pete Rouse call him ‘the Oracle’ or ‘Yoda,’ but I’ve never heard him called anything derogatory. That’s a real accomplishment for someone whose job it is to tell people ‘no’ as much as a chief of staff must.”

On the personal side, Rouse is a fan of the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers, and hangs out with them sometimes. He goes to lots of concerts and is known as the mayor or Meiwah, the Chinese restaurant at New Hampshire and M. Friends say he’s passionate about his cats.

Rouse is single, and a native of New Haven, Conn. He received a bachelor of arts from Colby College, a master of arts from the London School of Economics and a master in public administration. from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Rouse's White House biography is here.