Elizabeth Sears Smith

Why She Matters

When the president needs help from an executive agency or a member of the cabinet wants something from the White House, Smith’s office makes it happen. As the deputy cabinet secretary, Smith acts as a liaison between some of the most important people in Washington. She works directly under Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu and manages an office of four others who handle all requests involving members of the cabinet.

Her job includes day-to-day communication with the different departments, coordinating their support during a crisis and working with cabinet members on policy issues and ceremonial activities, such as tours of the White House. She does everything from managing a staff and communicating with other agencies to dealing with the specifics of policy. “It really runs the gamut,” she said.Whorunsgov.com interview with Elizabeth Sears Smith on Feb. 13, 2009

The scope of her job is extraordinarily large, but Smith is well prepared with six years as chief of staff for Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Caucus and was one of the Democratic Party’s most visible members. Before that, she worked for two and a half years in the Department of Commerce, where she managed a staff of 450 and a budget of $35 million.“President-elect Obama announces more key White House staff,” Press release from Change.gov

Path to Power

Elizabeth Sears grew up in Chicago and moved west to attend college at the University of California, Berkeley. She studied political science and graduated in 1986.Yachnin, Jennifer, “Hill Climbers,” Roll Call, April 14, 2003 In 1984, she volunteered at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. “That was my first taste of politics — the bug so to speak,” she said.Whorunsgov.com interview with Elizabeth Sears Smith on Feb. 13, 2009

After college, Sears lived overseas for a couple of years, first in Istanbul and then in London, doing marketing for companies through a program at Berkeley. She returned to Chicago in 1988 to work for Richard M. Daley’s mayoral campaign. During the campaign, she was deputy to David Wilhelm, who was the campaign manager, and Rahm Emanuel, who was the finance manager.Whorunsgov.com interview with Elizabeth Sears Smith on Feb. 13, 2009   

After the election in 1989, Sears and Wilhelm started The Strategy Group, a Democratic consulting organization, where she worked until 1996, when she took a job as the finance director for the Chicago host committee for the Democratic National Convention. In the meantime, while at The Strategy Group, she began going to school at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management at night to get an MBA, which she earned in 1997.

After the convention, Sears worked briefly at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government with the new members project and helped run John Schmidt’s unsuccessful bid for Illinois governor in 1998. Shortly after that, she joined the Department of Commerce, where she stayed for two-and-a-half years. She worked within the International Trade Administration with the commercial service, which Sears described as the commerce version of the foreign service. Commerce has officers who help U.S. companies do business overseas and partner with foreign companies who would like to do business in the United States.Whorunsgov.com interview with Elizabeth Sears Smith on Feb. 13, 2009    Sears did marketing for the department and then ran its domestic operations as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the International Trade Administration.“President-elect Obama announces more key White House staff,” Press release from Change.gov

While in Washington, she met her future husband, Douglas Smith, who was a special assistant to Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo. They married in 2001.“Weddings; Elizabeth Sears, Douglas Smith,” The New York Times, Nov. 11, 2001 

After working as a consultant for a couple of years, Sears, who now goes by Elizabeth Sears Smith, reunited with her old friend Emanuel. She took a job as his chief of staff and managed his office for the six years that he was in the House.Whorunsgov.com interview with Elizabeth Sears Smith on Feb. 13, 2009

After the 2009 election, President Barack Obama tapped Emanuel to be his chief of staff, and Emanuel brought Smith with him to the White House. She was named deputy cabinet secretary in January 2009, and she works directly under cabinet secretary Chris Lu.“President-elect Obama announces more key White House staff,” Press release from Change.gov

The Issues

Her first day on the job, Smith helped pull together a swearing in ceremony for the members of the cabinet who had been confirmed. In her first two weeks, she had to work with federal agencies to  coordinate the federal response to ice storms that hit Kentucky and left thousands trapped without electricity, and she also had to make sure cabinet members received the information they needed to help Obama pass his stimulus package. So there’s not exactly a typical day as deputy cabinet secretary.

That’s something Smith is used to. During her previous years as Emanuel’s chief of staff, she dealt with everything from the budget and hiring to scheduling and day-to-day operations. “What I loved about it [Emanuel’s office], was you always have a lot of balls in the air. You’re always juggling,” she said.Whorunsgov.com interview with Elizabeth Sears Smith on Feb. 13, 2009

But Smith describes her current job as “very different from what I was doing.” She coordinates with gigantic agencies. Smith’s office consists of her, Lu and four staff members, who deal with individual agencies. They also divide up the work based on issues or projects, and run the day-to-day interface with the executive agencies.

The Network

After spending six years as his chief of staff, Smith is probably closest to Emanuel, chief of staff to President Obama. Smith was a political consultant with David Wilhelm for years in Chicago, where she also got to know David Axelrod. Smith and Wilhelm worked on Richard M. Daley’s political campaign in 1989 with Emanuel.

In the White House, Smith works under Chris Lu, Obama’s cabinet secretary, and manages a staff of four: Brandon Hurlbut, Astri Kimball, Mike French and Ben Milakofsky.

When Smith worked for the Clinton Administration’s Department of Commerce, William M. Daley was its secretary. He later worked on Obama’s transition team. Smith is married to Douglas Smith, who worked under Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo during the Clinton Administration.