INAUGURATION SPECIAL | SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
Idealistic and pragmatic, this team knows how to make policy happen TOM VILSACK The former Iowa governor was an early candidate for the 2008presidential nomination, and his name has been floated as a potential secretary of agriculture. He reportedly approached his future wife with the line, “Are you a Humphrey or a Nixon supporter?” We assume it was the former, as they are still married.
HEATHER HIGGINBOTTOM This former eKrry aide began her career in education policy, but has since broadened her expertise to encompass a range of issues. Prior to joining the campaign, Higginbottom worked at the American Security Project, a centrist national security think tank whose board includes her future colleagues, Greg Craig and Susan Rice.
MELODY BARNES
DAVID BONIOR
CASSANDRA BUTTS
Barnes will leave the Center for American Progress to serve as Obama’s director of domestic policy. The smart and stylish lawyer was named one of Washingtonian’s “Ten WellD ressed Women” in 2007, wherein she described her style as “understated but interesting.” Will the same hold true for her leadership qualities?
Outspoken in his opposition of NAFTA, the former congressman and one-time Edwards campaign manager is a longtime labor union advocate. Bonior served as the House eDmocratic whip for 1years, played football for the Hawkeyes, and filed more than 57ethics charges against former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich while in office.
A member of the Obamas’ inner-circle, Butts could lend the new administration a hand in formulating a universal health care plan, something she did for iD ck Gephardt as his policy director in ’04.A classmate of Obama’s at Harvard aLw School, it was reported that the two met in the financial aid office on the first day of class.
OTHER KEY PLAYERS
OTHER KEY PLAYERS
• TOM DASCHLE
DOMESTIC POLICY
• JANE GARVEY
he incoming administration has promised significant shifts in healthcare, education, energy, tax reform, and environmental protection policy. These experts are poised to play key roles in formulating and executing the new president’s plans.
• DAVID HAYES
• JOEL KLEIN • AL GORE • ANDY STERN • ED RENDELL • TOM INSLEY • BILL BRATTON • TAMMY DUCKWORTH • JOHN KITZHABER • GEORGE FRAMPTON • THOMAS SOTO
• MOSEL THOMPSON • JOHN LESHY • ROBERT SUSSMAN
T
• KATHLEEN MCGINTY • IAN BOWLES • LISA RENSTROM • LISA JACKSON • CAROL BROWNER • JOSH DUBOIS
• MORT DOWNEY
ROBERT F KENNEDY JR Once known as a eKnnedy bad boy, RFK Jr. has emerged as the Camelot clan’s green thumb and a candidate for the EPA’s top job if a U.S. Senate bid in New ork Y doesn’t interfere. The father of six is a master falconer and former president of the New ork Y State Falconer’s Association.
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• TOM PEREZ
MARY NICHOLS
DAN REICHER
JEANNE LAMBREW
MANNY DIAZ
This lawyer and potential E PA administrator honed her skills in the trenches of environmental policymaking. Energy and transportation industry advocates fear that Nichols would arrive pre-programmed to seek wider regulation, but her record suggests she’s more pragmatist than ideologue.
D irector of climate and energy initiatives for Google. org and a former assistant secretary of energy, Reicher’s expertise in venture capital and green technology gives him far-reaching appeal. “People in this business should start with their own homes,” he says, “and learn about the technologies, and experience successes and frustrations.”
A career health-care policy expert, aLmbrew was at the helm of the health-care desk at the Office of Management and Budget under Clinton. Now a scholar at the Center for American Progress, her experience with the uninsured, Medicaid, and Medicare would be an asset for an administration promising comprehensive healthcare change.
Miami’s mayor, a Cuban immigrant, is considered the driving force behind his city’s recent downtown construction boom, and is something of an urban planning guru. The former Republican-tur nedIndependent championed Obama’s candidacy and praised his use of Spanish language ads, calling it “unprecedented.”
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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