Obama Era Personal Events
Personal Events
During the Obama Administration (2009–2017), the First Family and key White House aides experienced notable personal milestones alongside public duties. Highlights included Sasha and Malia Obama growing up in the White House, the arrival of First Dogs Bo and Sunny, high-profile Washington weddings among senior staffers, and personal losses, reflecting the human side of life inside the executive mansion.
Timeline
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Element |
Year
Age
| 1956 |
Birth in Shiraz and Early Childhood Overseas Life (Valerie Jarrett, Period: 1956 – circa 1963)
|
|---|---|
| 1970 |
Beginning of Political Activities under the Carter Administration (Anita Dunn, Period: Late 1970s)
|
| 1973 |
Beginning Political Activities as Aide to a Member of Congress (Jack Lew, Period: 1973–1975)
|
| 1975 |
Beginning of Activities as a Lawyer (William Daley, Period: 1975)
|
| 1976 |
Political Reporter for the Chicago Tribune (David Axelrod, Period: 1976–1984)
Service at the Department of Justice (John Podesta, Period: 1976–1977)
|
| 1977 |
Death of Father Joseph Axelrod (David Axelrod, Period: 1977)
|
| 1978 |
Service at ACTION (John Podesta, Period: 1978–1979)
|
| 1979 |
Policy Advisor to House Speaker Tip O'Neill (Jack Lew, Period: 1979–1987)
Legal Advisory Activities in the Senate Judiciary Committee and Others (John Podesta, Period: 1979–1981)
Chief of Staff to Alaska Lieutenant Governor Terry Miller (Pete Rouse, Period: 1979–1983)
|
| 1980 |
Participation in Chicago Municipal Politics and Activities (William Daley, Period: 1980s)
Public Relations Activities at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (Anita Dunn, Period: Late 1980s–early 1990s)
|
| 1981 |
Daughter's Epilepsy Diagnosis and Family Support Activities (David Axelrod, Period: 1981 onwards)
|
| 1984 |
Support for Paul Simon's US Senate Campaign (David Axelrod, Period: 1984)
Chief of Staff to Representative Dick Durbin (Pete Rouse, Period: 1984–1985)
Campaign Activities for Senator John Glenn (Anita Dunn, Period: 1984)
|
| 1985 |
Establishment of a Political Consulting Firm (David Axelrod, Period: 1985)
Chief of Staff to Senator Tom Daschle (Pete Rouse, Period: 1985–2004)
|
| 1987 |
Participation in Chicago Municipal Government (Valerie Jarrett, Period: Circa 1987–1995)
Joining The Miami Herald (Jay Carney, Period: Circa 1987–1988)
|
| 1988 |
Working at Sidley Austin LLP (Michelle Obama, Period: Circa 1988–1991)
Participation in Samuel S. Beard's US Senate Primary Election (David Plouffe, Period: 1988)
Founding of Podesta Associates (John Podesta, Period: 1988)
Time Magazine Miami Bureau Chief (Jay Carney, Period: December 1988 – 1990)
|
| 1989 |
Management Activities at Amalgamated Bank of Chicago (William Daley, Period: 1989–1993)
|
| 1990 |
Senator Tom Harkin's re-election campaign (David Plouffe, Period: 1990)
Time Magazine Moscow Correspondent (Jay Carney, Period: 1990–1993)
|
| 1991 |
Participation in Chicago Municipal Government (Michelle Obama, Period: Circa 1991–1993)
Private Volunteer Work in Israel (Rahm Emanuel, Period: 1991)
Intern at Representative Glen Browder's Office (Robert Gibbs, Period: 1991)
|
| 1992 |
Participation in Bill Clinton's Presidential Campaign (Rahm Emanuel, Period: 1992)
Travel and Educational Activities in Latin America (Denis McDonough, Period: Circa 1992–1996)
Tom Harkin's presidential election campaign (David Plouffe, Period: 1992)
John Olver US House Re-election Campaign (David Plouffe, Period: 1992)
|
| 1993 |
Founding and Management of Public Allies Chicago Branch (Michelle Obama, Period: Circa 1993–1996)
Working in the Clinton Administration (Rahm Emanuel, Period: c. 1993–1998)
Promotion of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, William Daley, Period: 1993)
Institutional Design of AmeriCorps (Jack Lew, Period: 1993–1994)
Working in Time Magazine's Washington Bureau (Jay Carney, Period: 1993 – December 2008)
Participation in Political Consulting Firm (Anita Dunn, Period: 1993–)
Participation in the Bill Clinton Administration (John Podesta, Period: January 1993 – June 1995)
|
| 1994 |
Charles M. Oberly's Election Campaign (David Plouffe, Period: 1994)
|
| 1995 |
Management at The Habitat Company (Valerie Jarrett, Period: 1995–2009)
Activities at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (David Plouffe, Period: c. 1995–1996)
Counselor to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (John Podesta, Period: 1995–1996)
Appointment as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Jack Lew, Period: August 1995 – July 1998)
|
| 1996 |
Working at the University of Chicago (Michelle Obama, Period: 1996–2007)
Policy Activities at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (Denis McDonough, Period: 1996–1999)
|
| 1997 |
Staff for House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (David Plouffe, Period: 1997–1998)
Participation in Lee P. Brown's Houston Mayoral Campaign (Josh Earnest, Period: 1997)
Participation in Rudolph Giuliani's Mayoral Re-election Campaign (Ben Rhodes, Period: 1997)
Appointment as White House Deputy Chief of Staff (John Podesta, Period: January 1997 – October 1998)
Appointment as US Secretary of Commerce (William Daley, Period: January 30, 1997 – July 19, 2000)
|
| 1998 |
Transition to the Investment Banking Industry (Rahm Emanuel, Period: Circa 1998–2002)
Support for the Establishment of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE, David Axelrod, Period: 1998)
Appointment as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Clinton Administration, Jack Lew, Period: May 1998 – January 2001)
Appointment as White House Chief of Staff (John Podesta, Period: October 1998 – January 2001)
|
| 1999 |
Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Tom Daschle (Denis McDonough, Period: 1999–2004)
Executive Director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (David Plouffe, Period: Circa 1999–2000)
Strategy for Bill Bradley's Presidential Campaign (Anita Dunn, Period: 1999–2000)
|
| 2000 |
Joining AKPD Message and Media (David Plouffe, Period: 2000 – circa 2011)
Public Relations Activities for Al Gore's Presidential Campaign (Anita Dunn, Period: 2000)
Al Gore Campaign Manager for the 2000 US Presidential Election (William Daley, Period: July 2000 – November 2000)
|
| 2001 |
Management Activities in Private Enterprise (William Daley, Period: 2001–2010)
Management Activities at New York University (Jack Lew, Period: Circa 2001–2006)
Participation in Michael Bloomberg's Mayoral Campaign (Josh Earnest, Period: 2001)
Participation in Diana Reyna's City Council Election Campaign (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2001)
Impact of Anthrax Mailings on Workplace (Pete Rouse, Period: October 2001)
|
| 2002 |
Staff for Representative Robert Marion Berry (Josh Earnest, Period: 2002–2003)
Aide to Former Representative Lee Hamilton (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2002–2007)
Election to the US House of Representatives (Rahm Emanuel, Period: November 2002 – January 2009)
|
| 2003 |
Founding of the Center for American Progress (John Podesta, Period: 2003)
Recipient of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Journalism Prize (Jay Carney, Period: 2003)
Service at the Democratic National Committee (Josh Earnest, Period: 2003–2006)
Departure from John Kerry's Presidential Campaign (Robert Gibbs, Period: November 2003)
|
| 2004 |
Activities at the Center for American Progress (Denis McDonough, Period: Circa 2004)
Support for Barack Obama's US Senate Campaign (David Axelrod, Period: 2004)
Cooperation on Barack Obama's US Senate Election (David Plouffe, Period: 2004)
Participation in Barack Obama's US Senate Campaign (Robert Gibbs, Period: April 2004)
Chief of Staff to Senator Barack Obama (Pete Rouse, Period: December 2004 – 2008)
|
| 2005 |
Activities at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (Rahm Emanuel, Period: 1988, 2005–2007)
Legislative Director for Senator Ken Salazar (Denis McDonough, Period: 2005–2007)
|
| 2006 |
Management Activities at Citigroup (Jack Lew, Period: 2006–2008)
Jim Davis's Florida gubernatorial election campaign (Josh Earnest, Period: 2006)
Participation in the Obama Campaign (Anita Dunn, Period: 2006–2008)
Assistance with Mark Warner's Presidential Exploratory Committee (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2006)
Participation in Tom Vilsack's Presidential Campaign (Josh Earnest, Period: December 2006–February 2007)
|
| 2007 |
Participation in the 2008 US Presidential Election (Michelle Obama, Period: 2007–2008)
Participation in Barack Obama's presidential election campaign (Denis McDonough, Period: 2007–2008)
Participation in the Obama Campaign (Valerie Jarrett, Period: 2007–2008)
Chief Strategist for Barack Obama's presidential election campaign (David Axelrod, Period: 2007–2008)
Campaign Manager for Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign (David Plouffe, Period: 2007–2008)
Participation in Barack Obama's presidential election campaign (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2007–2008)
Participation in Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign (Josh Earnest, Period: March 2007–November 2008)
|
| 2008 |
Support for Barack Obama's Presidential Election (William Daley, Period: 2008)
Co-chair of the Barack Obama transition team (John Podesta, Period: 2008–2009)
Publication of "The Power of Progress" (John Podesta, Period: 2008)
Communications Director for the Presidential Inaugural Committee (Josh Earnest, Period: November 2008–January 2009)
Co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team (Pete Rouse, Period: November 2008–January 2009)
Appointment as Director of Communications to Vice President Joe Biden (Jay Carney, Period: December 2008 – January 2011)
|
| 2009 |
Appointment as White House Chief of Staff (Rahm Emanuel, Period: January 2009–October 2010)
Appointment as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources (Jack Lew, Period: January 2009 – November 2010)
Appointment as Senior Advisor to the White House (Valerie Jarrett, Period: January 2009 – January 2017)
Appointment as Senior Advisor to the President at the White House (David Axelrod, Period: January 2009 – January 2011)
Appointment as Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications (Ben Rhodes, Period: January 2009 – January 2017)
Appointment as Chief of Staff of the National Security Council (Denis McDonough, Period: 2009–2010)
Assuming the Role of First Lady of the United States (Michelle Obama, Period: January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017)
Appointment as White House Press Secretary (Robert Gibbs, Period: January 20, 2009 – February 11, 2011)
Appointment as Senior Advisor to the White House (Pete Rouse, Period: January 20, 2009 – October 1, 2010)
Appointment as White House Deputy Press Secretary (Josh Earnest, Period: January 21, 2009 – June 20, 2014)
Appointment as Acting White House Communications Director (Anita Dunn, Period: April 2009 – November 2009)
Publication of "The Audacity to Win" (David Plouffe, Period: November 2009)
|
| 2010 |
Launch of Let's Move! (Michelle Obama, Period: February 2010)
Appointment as Deputy National Security Advisor (Denis McDonough, Period: October 2010 – January 2013)
Appointment as Acting White House Chief of Staff (Pete Rouse, Period: October 1, 2010 – January 13, 2011)
Reappointment as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Obama Administration, Jack Lew, Period: November 2010 – January 2012)
|
| 2011 |
Educational Reforms as Mayor of Chicago (Rahm Emanuel, Period: 2011–2019)
Chief Strategist for Obama's Re-election Campaign (David Axelrod, Period: 2011–2012)
Appointment as Senior Advisor to the President at the White House (David Plouffe, Period: January 2011 – January 2013)
Appointment as White House Chief of Staff (William Daley, Period: January 13, 2011 – January 27, 2012)
Appointment as Counselor to the President (Pete Rouse, Period: January 13, 2011 – January 1, 2014)
Appointment as White House Press Secretary (Jay Carney, Period: February 11, 2011 – June 20, 2014)
Victory in the Chicago Mayoral Election (Rahm Emanuel, Period: February 22, 2011)
Launch of Joining Forces (Michelle Obama, Period: April 2011)
|
| 2012 |
Establishment of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago (David Axelrod, Period: 2012–2023)
Senior Advisor to Obama's Re-election Campaign (Robert Gibbs, Period: 2012)
Appointment as White House Chief of Staff (Jack Lew, Period: January 27, 2012 – January 20, 2013)
|
| 2013 |
Secret Negotiations and Normalization of Relations with Cuba (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2013–2014)
Establishment and Promotion of the Iran Nuclear Deal (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2013–2015)
Appointment as White House Chief of Staff (Denis McDonough, Period: January 20, 2013 – January 20, 2017)
Appointment as US Secretary of the Treasury (Jack Lew, Period: February 28, 2013 – January 20, 2017)
Co-founding Insight Agency (Robert Gibbs, Period: June 2013)
|
| 2014 |
Launch of Reach Higher (Michelle Obama, Period: 2014)
Activities at Perkins Coie LLP (Pete Rouse, Period: 2014 onwards)
Appointment as Counselor to President Barack Obama (John Podesta, Period: January 2014 – February 2015)
Appointment as White House Press Secretary (Josh Earnest, Period: June 20, 2014 – January 20, 2017)
Appointment as Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy at Uber (David Plouffe, Period: August 2014 – 2015)
Appointment as CNN Senior Political Analyst (Jay Carney, Period: September 2014 – February 2015)
Response to the Shooting of Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police (Rahm Emanuel, Period: October 2014 – December 2015 onwards)
|
| 2015 |
Activities as a CNN Political Commentator (David Axelrod, Period: 2015–Present)
Chair of Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign (John Podesta, Period: 2015–2016)
Publication of Memoir "Believer" (David Axelrod, Period: February 2015)
Launch of Let Girls Learn (Michelle Obama, Period: March 2015)
Appointment as Senior Vice President at Amazon (Jay Carney, Period: March 2, 2015 – 2022)
Appointment as Head of Communications for McDonald's (Robert Gibbs, Period: June 2015 – October 2019)
|
| 2016 |
Cyberattack on Personal Email Account and Email Leak (John Podesta, Period: March–November 2016, made public October–November 2016)
|
| 2017 |
Management Activities at Lindsay Goldberg (Jack Lew, Period: 2017–)
Activities at the Markle Foundation (Denis McDonough, Period: 2017–2021)
Educational Activities at the University of Notre Dame (Denis McDonough, Period: 2017–2021 and 2025 onwards)
Co-host of "Pod Save the World" (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2017 onwards)
Participation in the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (David Plouffe, Period: January 2017–)
Departure from the Obama Administration (Ben Rhodes, Period: January 2017)
Appointment as NBC News and MSNBC Political Analyst (Josh Earnest, Period: March 2017 – 2018)
|
| 2018 |
Candidacy for Mayor of Chicago (William Daley, Period: 2018 – February 2019)
Amazon Public Relations Activities Regarding the Chinese Market (Jay Carney, Period: 2018)
Publication of Memoir "The World as It Is" (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2018)
Co-founding National Security Action (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2018)
Joining United Airlines (Josh Earnest, Period: May 2018 – September 2023)
Publication of Memoir "Becoming" (Michelle Obama, Period: November 2018)
|
| 2019 |
Appointment to the Board of ACRONYM (David Plouffe, Period: 2019)
Launch of Podcast "Campaign HQ with David Plouffe" (David Plouffe, Period: 2019–Present)
Participation in the Biden Presidential Campaign (Anita Dunn, Period: 2019–2020)
Publication of Memoir "Finding My Voice" (Valerie Jarrett, Period: April 2019)
Retirement as Mayor of Chicago (Rahm Emanuel, Period: May 20, 2019)
Criticism and Apology Regarding World Series Umpire Remarks (Jay Carney, Period: October 29–30, 2019)
|
| 2020 |
Activities at Barry Pulpit Interactive (Robert Gibbs, Period: March 2020–)
Participation in the Podcast "Hacks On Tap" (Robert Gibbs, Period: August 2020–)
|
| 2021 |
Veterans' Homelessness Initiatives (Denis McDonough, Period: 2021–2025)
Publication of "After the Fall" (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2021)
Senior Advisor to the President in the Biden Administration (Anita Dunn, Period: January 2021 – August 2021, May 2022 – August 2024)
Appointment as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Denis McDonough, Period: February 9, 2021 – January 20, 2025)
Appointment as CEO of the Obama Foundation (Valerie Jarrett, Period: October 2021 – Present)
Appointment as US Ambassador to Japan (Rahm Emanuel, Period: December 2021 – 2025)
|
| 2022 |
Implementation of the PACT Act (Denis McDonough, Period: 2022–2025)
Appointment as Global Head of Policy and Communications at Airbnb (Jay Carney, Period: Published July 2022, and thereafter)
Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation in the Joe Biden administration (John Podesta, Period: September 2022 – January 2025)
|
| 2023 |
Participation on the Rice University Board of Trustees (Josh Earnest, Period: July 2023–)
Promotion to Executive Vice President at United Airlines (Josh Earnest, Period: September 19, 2023–)
Appointment as US Ambassador to Israel (Jack Lew, Period: November 5, 2023 – January 20, 2025)
|
| 2024 |
Participation in the Kamala Harris Presidential Campaign (Anita Dunn, Period: 2024)
Appointment as Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy (John Podesta, Period: March 2024 – January 2025)
Participation in Kamala Harris's Presidential Campaign (David Plouffe, Period: August – November 2024)
Appointment as Head of Communications for Warner Bros. Discovery (Robert Gibbs, Period: August 2024–)
|
| 2025 |
Political and International Affairs Commentary Activities (Rahm Emanuel, Period: 2025–)
Participation in Coinbase Global Advisory Council (David Plouffe, Period: June 2025–)
|
| 2026 |
Publication of "All We Say" (Ben Rhodes, Period: 2026)
Appointment as CEO of Feeding America (Denis McDonough, Period: April 14, 2026–)
|
Map
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Element |
United States
World
Related Links
| Group | List |
|---|---|
| Wars and Disasters | |
| Personal Events |
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