Believer: My Forty Years in Politics (68 page)

Iowa gave Obama’s campaign life in 2008. Four years later, we would end our campaign where our presidential odyssey began.

The Axelrods. Leaving campaigns was an adjustment. Spending more time with Susan, Lauren, Ethan (left), Michael (right), and his wife, Liz (not pictured), has been a rich payoff.

When I began working on this book, my sage editor, Ann Godoff, was characteristically blunt about the nature of the enterprise. “This is going to be really hard,” she said. Knowing nothing, I shrugged off her admonition. After all, I had written all my life—newspaper and magazine stories; speeches and memos; thirty-second ads. Surely, this couldn’t be that much more difficult?

I thought about that exchange often during the ensuing months, when the task of writing acknowledgments seemed like the distant peak of a very tall and seemingly unscalable mountain. I could not have reached it without the indispensable help of many people.

Ann herself was a rich source of wonderful insights and the firm taskmaster an old journalist needed to make his deadlines. I am grateful to her, Ben Platt, and the skillful folks at Penguin Press for their support, confidence, and patience.

Tim Skoczek was a fine young White House communications aide when I persuaded him to join me in Chicago and act as my all-purpose right-hand man on this project. I’m sure there were many days when he questioned the wisdom of his decision. For almost four years, he spearheaded the voluminous research this book required, read and reread every word, offered valuable advice, and lived through all the anxious moments with me. This book is his as well as mine.

I am grateful to my terrific assistant, Chenault Taylor, for keeping the world at bay while I labored on this project—and for putting up with my “shoot the messenger” moodiness when she occasionally could not.

Conor Reynolds played an integral role in the research and fact-checking that went into this book. Mike Rice, Austin Burke, and Michele Friedman at VR Research did the impressive legwork required to find my family’s historical records.

I appreciate the understanding and support of my colleagues at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago for my frequent absences as I worked on this book, and I am thankful to NBC News for granting me a sabbatical from my chores there to complete it.

Robert Barnett, my attorney, was a helpful and experienced counselor and guide through the world of book publishing, which was new to me.

In the midst of writing, I spent a week in Newton, Massachusetts, where my mother lived and died. During her final days, I reconnected with an old friend who lived nearby. Mark Starr was a mentor of mine at the
Chicago Tribune
in the 1970s, and best man at my wedding. He took a job as the Boston bureau chief for
Newsweek
, and we lost touch. When I saw him after my mother died, Mark, now retired, said he had some free time and offered to read my copy, as he had done so many times when I was a kid reporter. His good suggestions and moral support at critical junctures were a great gift.

Others read drafts and offered helpful advice as well. I am grateful to Larry Grisolano, Peter Cunningham, Joel Benenson, Jon Favreau, Shailagh Murray, Sam Smith, Forrest Claypool, David Plouffe, Robert Gibbs, Stephanie Cutter, Tommy Vietor, and Kathy Ruemmler for taking the time to offer their thoughts and, more than that, for their wonderful friendship. Particular thanks to Doris Kearns Goodwin, Governor Deval Patrick, George Stephanopoulos, and Mike Murphy for their kind words.

When I began, Ann suggested that I write everything, without regard to length. “We can always cut,” she said. I am pretty sure she came to regret that direction. Ann was helpful—perhaps even a little desperate—in scaling back my expansive recollections to keep this book on track. Lost in that necessary process of pruning, however, was mention of the many great clients and priceless talented colleagues who deserved recognition in these pages but fell victim to the knife. I hope those folks, too numerous to list here, know how much I love and appreciate them. They, too, are very much a part of my story.

In the final days of running through edits, my staff and I were meeting at my apartment when Susan entered the room. Susan had put many things on hold for me while I finished this project, as she had done so many times in our thirty-five years of marriage. “No one will be happier than my wife when this book is done. She’s borne the brunt of it,” I said. Susan smiled. “I always do. Just read the book!” This project, like almost everything of value I have done in my life, would not have been possible without Susan’s love and support. She held our family together through so many storms, yet still found time to change the world. The foundation she launched at our kitchen table, CURE, is now the largest private funder of epilepsy research. It is impossible to fully express my love, gratitude, and admiration for Susan, or the incredible luck I’ve had to share my life with such a lovely, remarkable woman.

Writing an autobiography can be painful, I learned. It reminded me once again of the sacrifices I imposed over the years on my children—Lauren, Michael, and Ethan. Now that they are adults, the most blessed times of the year are those special occasions when we are all together. They, along with my daughter-in-law, Liz, and new granddaughter, Maelin, provide a joy no campaign could offer.

There is one more person who made this book, and so much more, possible.

Barack Obama has been a great friend and a dream client. He is not perfect, as no one is. But he is a thoroughly admirable person, who personifies the spirit of politics and public service in which I believe. For that, and our long association, I will always be grateful.

The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. To find the corresponding locations in the text of this digital version, please use the “search” function on your e-reader. Note that not all terms may be searchable.

Abbas, Mahmoud, 291

Abdilaziz, Abdullah ibn, 404–5

Abdulmutallab, Umar Farouk, 398–99

Abedin, Huma, 242

Abramson, Jill, 102

ACLU, 400

Affordable Health Care Act (2010), 3, 216, 388–89, 457–58, 485;
see also
health care

Afghanistan:

Al Qaeda in, 392–93, 396, 406

Obama’s travel to, 291, 292, 451–52

strategic change in, 330

Taliban in, 392

war in, 3, 244, 390–97, 401–2, 403, 411, 416, 419–20, 452, 483

AFL-CIO, 229

Agrella, Don, 40–41

Ailes, Roger, 424–25, 453

AKPD Message and Media, 167, 198–99

Al Qaeda:

in Afghanistan, 392–93, 396, 406

drone strikes against, 397

and Guantánamo, 400

and Iraq, 3, 130

in Pakistan, 230, 244, 397

in Somalia, 397

and terrorism, 397–98, 471

in Yemen, 397

American International Group (AIG), 309, 359–60

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), 364, 380, 414

and earmarks, 345–46

and executive bonuses, 360

and House Republican Caucus, 353–54

management of, 448

and media focus, 355

name of, 337

passage of, 354

purpose of, 334

and Senate Democratic Caucus, 337

as stimulus plan, 334–35, 337, 345, 353–55

and tax cuts, 335, 337

Arab Spring, 408–9

Arafat, Yasser, 63

Arvey, Jacob, 31

Ashcroft, John, 142

Asia, Obama’s travel to, 413–14

Atwater, Lee, 257–58

Auschwitz, 409–10

Austin, Jerry, 105

automotive industry, 361–64, 450, 451, 483, 487

Axelrod, David:

and AKPD Message and Media, 167, 198–99

as campaign consultant, 74–75, 89, 91, 100, 116, 124, 148, 166, 182, 207, 220, 221, 233, 243, 248, 268, 453–54

childhood of, 17–18

debating Washington move, 325–27, 337

epilogue of, 479–88

forming Axelrod and Associates, 69

and health care, 369–70, 371, 373, 388–89

and his father’s death, 35–37, 38, 114

and his mother’s death, 479–80

as Keeper of the Message, 220, 429, 452–53

leaving the White House, 430–31

and Obama’s reelection campaign, 453–57, 476–78

as outsider, 435–40

as “public face,” 347–48

returning to public service, 440–41, 478

on the road, 243–44, 322, 435

Secret Service detail of, 344, 435

as senior adviser, 329, 336, 343–50, 356, 387, 481

and transition period, 329, 334, 336

Axelrod, Ethan (son), 86, 99, 114, 130, 245, 247, 249, 480

Axelrod, Joan (sister), 16, 18, 36, 176–77, 189, 253

Axelrod, Joseph (father), 13–14, 15–18, 23–24, 29, 35–37, 38, 114

Axelrod, Lauren (daughter):

birth of, 50

epilepsy of, 50–51, 68, 86, 98, 99, 112–13, 114, 275, 369, 388

good health of, 480

at Misericordia, 114–15, 127, 326, 337

Axelrod, Liz (Mike’s wife), 480

Axelrod, Maelin (granddaughter), 480

Axelrod, Michael (son), 60, 68, 81, 99, 111, 480

Axelrod, Morris (grandfather), 13, 14

Axelrod, Myril Davidson (mother), 15–18, 36, 479–80

Axelrod, Susan Landau (wife):

after the campaigns, 480

and cancer, 113–14, 115, 201

courtship and marriage, 45–46

and CURE, 113, 117, 193, 201, 475

and family, 8, 50–51, 60, 61, 68, 98–99, 114, 369

and health care, 369–70, 388

and husband’s outsider status, 436, 437

and husband’s Washington assignment, 326–27

and Lauren’s epilepsy, 50–51, 112–13, 114, 127, 326, 369

and political campaigns, 60, 61, 68, 98, 113, 130, 149–50, 153, 154, 200–201, 245, 247, 249, 283, 319–20, 478

and war, 201, 397

Axelrod and Associates:

growth of, 100, 111

startup of, 69, 73–75

Axelrod family, emigrating to U.S., 14–16

Bai, Matt, 469

Bain Capital, 454, 456, 468

Balz, Dan, 153, 280

Barnett, Robert, 116, 471

Bauer, Bob, 295, 327

Bayh, Birch, 296

Bayh, Evan, 207, 295, 296, 298, 299

Beame, Abe, 19, 29

Begala, Paul, 96

Belcher, Cornell, 258

Bell, Christie, 112

Benenson, Joel, 338, 470

on campaign team, 206, 207, 233, 349

and forecasts, 253–54, 290

and polls, 206, 250, 253, 289, 307, 416, 457

Benghazi, Libya, 471–72

Bennett, Abner, 23

Berlin, Obama’s speech in, 292–94

Berlin Airlift, 292, 293

Berlin Wall, fall of, 410

Berman, Jeff, 256

Bernanke, Ben, 332, 368

Bernardini, Chuck, 73

Bernstein, Carl, 28

Berry, Jessie, 1, 9, 18

Bhutto, Benazir, 243–44

Biden, Beau, 297

Biden, Jill, 297

Biden, Joe, 437–38

and Afghanistan, 393, 419

and Congress, 167, 371, 428, 429, 485

and debates, 231, 282, 314, 470

and the economy, 353, 371

and health care, 371

and Palin, 304–5, 314

and primary campaign (2008), 241, 250, 298

and reelection campaign, 448–49, 452–53, 469–70

as running mate, 281–82, 295, 296–98, 316–17

talkativeness of, 167, 297–98

and transition period, 332

Biederman, Jack, 13

Bilandic, Michael, 43–45, 58

Binder, David:

and campaign team, 207, 349

and focus groups, 206–7, 227, 289, 295, 303, 380, 416, 473

bin Laden, Osama, 3, 230, 231, 392, 404

death of, 437–38, 451, 471

Black Panthers, 28, 33, 122

Blagojevich, Rod, 109–11, 117, 124, 125, 129–30, 271, 328–29

Blatchford, Frank, 42

Blitzer, Wolf, 244, 320

Bloom, Ronald, 362

Bloomberg, Michael, 423, 424

Boccieri, John, 427

Boehner, John, 7, 311, 485

Bohannon, Murvin “Bo,” 29–30

Bolten, Josh, 310

Bousquet, Steve, 172

BP, oil spill of, 416–19

Bradley, Bill, 76

Branstad, Terry, 128

Brennan, John O., 398

Brown, Cleveland, 435

Brown, Jerry, 97, 98

Brown, Scott, 367, 383

Browner, Carol, 416–17

Brundtland, Gro Harlem, 402

Bruni, Carla, 425, 430

Buchenwald, Obama’s visit to, 409

Burke, Ed, 46, 47, 58, 78, 80

Burns, George, 154

Burrell, George R., 141–42

Burton, Bill, 397

Bush, George H. W., 95, 169, 336, 425, 482

Bush, George W.:

and Cheney, 141, 300, 403, 484

divisive politics of, 194

and Hillary’s primary campaign, 229

and McCain, 197, 281, 289–90

and Obama campaign issues, 194–95, 197, 226

partisan anger toward, 141, 379

and previous campaigns (2000), 197; (2004), 464

and Putin, 410

and transition period, 339

Bush administration:

and the economy, 148, 289, 308–12, 333, 334, 335, 352, 354, 362, 366, 428, 450

and foreign relations, 230, 362, 404, 410

and Justice Department, 349

and Katrina, 169, 171

and tax cuts, 428, 450

and terrorism, 399

and transition period, 335–37

unilateralism of, 292, 293, 300, 403

and war, 129, 152, 171, 186, 289, 392, 397

Business Roundtable, 455–56

Button, Wendy, 209

Byrne, Jane:

and Bilandic, 43–45

as Chicago mayor, 46–50, 52, 53–54, 58

documentary about, 56

and Harold Washington, 55–56, 78, 79

and mayoral campaigns, 43–45, 46, 54, 55–56, 78, 79

and McMullen, 44, 46, 49

and R. J. Daley, 43, 44

and R. M. Daley, 46–50, 53–54, 55

Caddell, Pat, 75, 79, 104

Cahill, Mary Beth, 155

cap-and-trade bill, 373

Capone, Al, 53, 79

Carey, Bernard, 33

Carson, Jon, 262

Carter, Colin, 208–9

Carter, Jimmy, 47–48, 65, 336, 379, 380, 438

Carville, James, 96–97, 417

Casey, Bob, 96

Castellaneta, Dan, 73

Cheney, Dick, 141, 300, 403, 484

Chertoff, Michael, 338

Chew, Charlie, 48

Chicago:

Democratic National Conventions in (1968), 20, 22, 24, 28, 33, 107, 322, 480; (1996), 107

mayoral elections (1983), 55-58; (1989), 85–91, 179

organized crime in, 32

police brutality in, 30, 86

politics in, 26–28, 30–35, 52–54, 88–89, 180–81, 271–72, 329

racial issues in, 33, 85, 86, 88

Chicago City Council, 57–58, 78, 80, 85, 147

Chicago Daily News,
44

Chicago Seven, 33

Chicago
Sun-Times,
167

Chicago Tribune
:

author’s departure from, 61, 68

author’s internship in, 34, 38–39, 40–43

author’s job in, 42–45, 48–49, 51–53, 59, 60

economic pressures on, 51–53, 59

investigative reporting in, 110–11

political reporting in, 175

reporter shot by mob, 53

China:

Obama’s travel to, 413–14

outsourcing jobs to, 456

Christie, Chris, 475

Chrysler Corporation, 361–64

Chu, Steven, 418–19

Churchill, Winston, 459

Ciccone, F. Richard, 51, 52, 54

Civil Rights Act, 18, 481

Clay, Ray, 239

Claypool, Forrest, 64, 202

and Axelrod and Associates, 69, 73, 75

and Cook County Commissioners, 111, 179–80

and school choice, 154

Clemons, Steve, 385

Cleveland Plain Dealer,
91–92

Clinton, Bill:

administration of, 328, 329

followers of, 105, 107, 423

and health care, 371, 374, 376

and Hillary’s campaigns, 116, 196, 244, 257–58, 259, 260, 266, 287, 290

and Katrina, 169

and midterm elections, 327, 444

and Obama’s economic package, 429

and Obama’s reelection campaign, 454–55, 461–62, 469, 475, 477

opponents of, 379

and party unity, 283

personality of, 459, 461

presidency of, 106

presidential campaigns of, (1992), 63-64, 95-100; (1996), 206, 282

reelection campaign of, 107–9

speeches of, 109, 461–62

and transition period, 336

Clinton, Hillary:

and Bill’s campaigns, 97–98

and debates, 223, 231, 235–36, 251, 471

and Democratic convention (2008), 300–301

and epilepsy research, 113, 115, 193, 201

and foreign travel, 406

and fund-raising, 191, 204, 219, 288

and health care, 222, 370, 371

and Katrina, 169

law firm of, 97

and Obama’s reelection campaign, 448–49

and party unity, 283, 287–89, 301

as possible presidential candidate (2008), 175, 181, 182, 183–84, 187, 191–92, 196–97, 201, 219

and presidential primaries (2008), 223, 226, 229, 231–34, 236, 237–38, 240–42, 244, 245, 248, 250–57, 262–64, 266–67, 275, 277–79, 282–83, 288–89, 354, 463, 475

as secretary of state, 330–31, 448

senatorial campaign of, 115–16, 164

as U.S. Senator, 167

Coakley, Martha, 383–84, 388

Coburn, Tom, 310

Collins, Cardiss, 32

Collins, George, 32

Congress, U.S.:

and Afghanistan, 396

and Biden, 167, 371, 428, 429, 458

and bipartisanship, 385, 483

and business lobby, 368, 416, 426

debt limit, 3, 438

and earmarks, 345–46, 353, 481

and the economy, 440, 442, 443, 444

factionalism in, 380, 382–83, 384, 426, 442, 482, 483, 487

and financial reform (Dodd-Frank), 367, 368, 420

Founders’ vision of, 382

and health care, 373, 374–76, 378, 379–83, 384–85, 388–89, 397, 415

House Republican Caucus, 353–54

lame-duck session, 427–30

and midterm election (2010), 421, 426–28

opposition in, 354–55, 364, 368, 380, 382, 446, 459, 483–84

reelection as focus of, 344–45, 381, 485

Senate Democratic Caucus, 337, 381, 384–85

and stimulus plan, 334–35, 337, 345, 353–55, 358–59

and successes, 415

and taxes, 428–29

and Tea Party, 378, 426, 427, 460

and Volcker Rule, 368

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), 366–67

Cranston, Alan, 64

Crimson Creative Group, 208–9

Crouse, Timothy, 28

Cruise, Tom, 206

Cuban missile crisis, 18, 410, 411

Cuomo, Mario, 64–65, 160, 206, 444

CURE (Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy), 113, 117, 193, 201, 475

Cutter, Stephanie, 462

Daley, Bill, 87, 422

Daley, Maggie, 87–88, 90

Daley, Patrick, 87

Daley, Richard J. “Dick” (father):

and Byrne, 43, 44

death of, 86

ill health of, 27

and JFK, 24, 27, 47, 481

political machine of, 24, 26, 27–28, 31, 32, 57, 481

and racial issues, 30, 33, 86

supporters of, 58, 75, 77

Daley, Richard M. “Rich” (son), 107, 123

and Bilandic, 44–45

and Byrne, 46–50, 53–54, 55

and Claypool/Stroger race, 179–81

and fourth term, 122

mayoralty campaigns (1983), 55-56; (1989), 86–91, 179

political organization of, 56, 96

popularity of, 91

as state’s attorney, 47, 48, 86

stepping down, 423

supporters of, 78, 102, 120, 190

Daschle, Tom, 165, 199, 372

Davidson, Gertrude, 15

Davidson, Louis, 15

Davis, Danny, 123, 135

Davis, Gray, 128

Dean, Howard, 151–52, 153, 178, 226

de Blasio, Bill, 116

Deese, Brian, 362

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 447