graduates was that they need to nurture those relationships. I wish I had stayed in better touch with my classmates. How did you turn to public service? One of my dear friends at NMH was Cecilia Rhinehart ’75, and her father was the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria. The summer after graduation, I spent time in their home in Lagos. That excited me about the possibility of public service. Dr. Rhinehart was an extraordinary man. You’ve said that you went off to law school after Stanford without much reflection. Why? Well, things turned out pretty well, but at the time, I felt I should know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That was nonsense. I wish I’d felt less anxious about choosing the “right” path. The journey is more important than the destination — that’s one of my messages to young people. You worked in a law firm for six years before you made the move to Chicago’s city government. How did that experience influence you? I learned a lot practicing law and that skill base has been helpful throughout my career. But I didn’t feel a sense of satisfaction in the private sector, nor did I feel that I was good at what I was doing. I was a single mom at that point, and I felt an enormous conflict being away from my daughter. In a situation like that, you feel a sense of failure for having chosen the wrong job. But let that dissatisfaction motivate you to change. Often, people wallow. Life is too short to wallow. How does that translate for NMH students today? I want students to feel empowered to make their own decisions and not try to live the life that is easy, or the one that somebody else wishes for them. I want them to ask themselves: What will give them fulfillment? What kind of contribution do they want to make? This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t seek out advice from those
“ I want NMH students to feel empowered to make their own decisions and not try to live the life that is easy, or the one that somebody else wishes for them.” we respect and love, but we should appreciate the fact that we know ourselves better than anybody else does. What is a failure you’ve experienced? The inability to get Congress to pass sensible legislation to reduce gun violence. I understand the desire people have to own guns; I respect the Second Amendment. But every year, we lose 30,000 people to gun violence. My grandfather was killed by a burglar, with his own gun. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, I worked hard with colleagues at the White House and statehouses around the country to convince Congress to pass sensible legislation. Ninety percent of Americans, including the majority of gun owners and law enforcement experts, agreed that what we were proposing made sense. But we failed. It was a heavy blow, not just to me but also to people who have lost loved ones and are working hard to spare other families the extraordinary pain that they’ve been through. We had to say, OK, if we can’t get Congress to do it, then we’d better figure out what else is in our own power to do. You have to be resilient and persistent and take the long view. You cannot let setbacks paralyze you. What part of your job do you most look forward to? What I love most is the opportunity to work on an
incredible range of issues that affect the lives of hardworking Americans. Interacting with the smartest experts on any given issue, as well as people whose lives will be directly affected by our policies, and then making recommendations to the president about what we should do to move our country forward — that is as good as it gets. You’ve been the Obamas’ informal and official advisor for years. How has your relationship with them changed? When I met Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama, she was two years out of law school, he had just finished law school, they were not even married, and my daughter was 6 years old. The core of our friendship has strengthened over time. I trust them with my life. I love them unconditionally. We’ve spent 25 years being social friends and professional colleagues, in good times and, more important, in bad times. Because I started out as their mentor, the president joked in the beginning of his presidency about what the switch was going to feel like for me. But there hasn’t been a single day in which it has not been an honor to work for him. I respect him enormously and he has never once disappointed me. What is an important piece of advice you’ve given the Obamas? During challenging times, I remind them, and myself, to trust our instincts and remember why we’re here. Whatever attacks we endure are worth it, given the ultimate objective: serving our big, messy, complicated, diverse, incredible country. What’s your reaction to people who criticize you for working as the president’s political advisor while also being his longtime friend? Everybody wants to be close to the president. When I walked in the door in 2008 with an 18-year history with the Obamas, it was threatening to some people. Over the years, I’ve worked continued on next page
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