Get To Know Valarie Jarrett - On MTP Today - Advisor to Barack Obama

[otohara]

Wow what a back ground this talented woman has.

Valerie Bowman Jarrett (born November 14, 1956) is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader. She is a senior advisor to President-Elect Barack Obama and has been named as a co-chairman of the Obama-Biden Transition Project.<1> Additionally, she is considered a leading candidate to replace Obama in the U.S. Senate.

Jarrett was born to an African-American family in Shiraz, Iran, where her father, Dr. James Bowman, ran a hospital for children as part of a program that sent American doctors and agricultural experts to developing countries to help jump-start their health and farming efforts. At age 5, the family moved to London for one year, then returned to Chicago in 1963. Her father, who is of African American descent is a pathologist and geneticist. He is currently Professor Emeritus in Pathology and Medicine, University of Chicago.<2><3> Her great-grandfather was the first African-American to graduate from M.I.T., her grandfather was Robert Taylor the first black man to head the Chicago Housing Authority, and her father Dr. James Bowman was the first black resident at St. Luke’s Hospital. Though Ms. Jarrett has never worked in Washington, her great-uncle is Democratic power broker Vernon Jordan. <4> Her mother, Barbara Bowman, is an African-American early childhood education expert and co-founder of the Erikson Institute for child development.<4><5>

She graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon, a New England boarding school, in 1974. She also received a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1978, and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Jarrett


KNOWN AS THE OTHER SIDE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BRAIN.

Insider has Obama's ear: What's she telling him?
Valerie Jarrett is known as the other side of Barack Obama's brain. Can this tough-minded adviser, who is guided by aphorisms and gut instinct, help him reach the White House?

Say you're Sen. Barack Obama, the hottest politician on the planet. You fill up stadiums like the Beatles. You're JFK-smooth, scary smart and, for a skinny middle-aged Ivy Leaguer who quit smoking not that long ago, your basketball game isn't half-bad.

No African-American politician has soared this close to the sun. Everyone sings your praises, from Hollywood starlets to rappers on YouTube. One excitable cable TV host even admitted on the air that when he hears you give a speech a thrill runs up his leg.

That was weird. But you have a strange sway over all kinds of people.

It seems everybody wants to be a new millennium FOB -Friend of Barack. But good as all this feels, you know how easy it is to get lost in the hype. There are sycophants and schemers hiding among the supporters.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-072708-jarrett,0,1640738.story

[napi21]

1. Valerie's name has been floated as his replacement in the Senate. n/t

[MadBadger]

2. I think she may be the best person to replace him in the senate

[gblady]

3. I think.....

that she is a huge mentor, advisor, and confidante to Barack...
(read where she was in on every aspect of the campaign, as in everything went through her)
and I hope she stays in that capacity, whatever form that may take.

[otohara]

4. Your "O" Avatar

might have to change to "that one"!

[hlthe2b]

5. Great Senate candidate...

Smart and very capable, but I'm pissed that MTP sound engineers did not work with her soft-spoken style to aid in her coming across a bit more clearly. Tom Brokaw, for all his marble-mouthed mannerisms, does have a booming voice, which made it hard to go back and forth with her quite soft spoken presentation.... I'm no sound engineer, but I can't believe they could not have equalized a bit better.

[blondeatlast]

6. The September issue of American "Vogue" had a GREAT article on her.

Interested parties should try to get their hands on a copy.

Thanks to her, we have Barack and Michelle, and of course, Sasha and Malia!

[Unsane]

7. I'd prefer her over Jesse Jackson Jr. as Obama's Senate replacement.

[MadBadger]

9. I agree...I think she might be easier to re-elect.

[Window]

8. Very impressive.

:kick:

[CatWoman]

10. LOL

ANOTHER SCORPIO!!! :toast:

[Ysabel]

11. i know about her family...

i grew up in illinois and i'm familiar with her family...

my uncle worked with her mother in the early days (when "head start" first was being organised)...

- great family / i'm glad she's with us in whatever capacity...

[MadMaddie]

12. She is impressive!

She would be a fitting replacement for Obama. How does the state replace Senators?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

13. Rumor has it that she'll be my new boss at the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development...

We received an email from our union representative who has close ties to the Obama team. Just a rumor so far...

[Overseas]

14. I was impressed with her on MTP.

Enthusiastic advocate and colleague but still very calm and no drama.