Pete Rouse

Why He Matters

A veteran aide to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Rouse joined the Senate office of Barack Obama in 2004, shortly after Daschle lost his re-election bid. He now wields direct power as a senior adviser to the president.

Occasionally called the 101st senator during his time on Capitol Hill, Rouse began working in the House in 1973, and has a large network of friends in high places, including Daschle and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), for whom Rouse worked as chief of staff.

But most of Rouse’s career was spent working for Daschle, who was leader of Senate Democrats for 10 of his 18 years in the Senate — all 18 of which he spent with Rouse at his side. When Daschle lost his seat in 2004, Rouse moved into the office of Obama, who had just been elected to the Senate.

Rouse was Obama’s Senate chief of staff throughout the two-year presidential campaign, but he spent an increasing amount of time on the trail and in Chicago campaign headquarters.Pickeler, Nedra, “Democrat Barack Obama brings in friend and long-term adviser amid concerns about campaign,” The Associated Press, Sept. 21, 2007  After Obama was elected president, Rouse was named as one of three members of Obama’s transition team, along with John Podesta and Valerie Jarrett.

Path to Power

Rouse was born in New Haven, Conn., and went to Colby College.  He earned a masters’ degrees from Harvard University and the London Schools of Economics and arrived in Washington to work in the Senate mailroom. Rouse met Daschle in 1973, when they sat next to each other as aides to then-Sen. James Abourezk (D-S.D.). When Abourezk retired, Daschle went back to South Dakota to campaign for an open House seat, and Rouse stayed in Washington and worked in a variety of Hill Democratic offices.Preston, Mark, “A career ally keeps ‘Daschle Inc.’ steady,” Roll Call, July 28, 2004  

Rouse’s mother grew up in Alaska, and he moved to Anchorage in 1979 to work as the chief of staff for Republican Lt. Gov. Terry Miller for three years.Cockerham, Sean, “Obama targets Alaska as battleground state, aide says,” Anchorage Daily News, July 18, 2008  That was the only time Rouse worked for a Republican, saying “I am more interested in what people stand for and what my philosophical compatibility is. I have found only one Republican. All the rest of them have been Democrats."Preston, Mark, “A career ally keeps ‘Daschle Inc.’ steady,” Roll Call, July 28, 2004

The stint with Miller was also the only time Rouse worked outside of Washington. He returned after just a few years to work in then-Rep. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) office. After coming to the House in the early 1980s, Durbin hired Rouse to be his chief of staff. Rouse worked there until Daschle called him in 1986. Daschle said he was planning on running for the Senate and wanted Rouse to run his House office during the campaign. After the victory, Rouse moved into Daschle’s Senate office as his chief of staff.Preston, Mark, “A career ally keeps ‘Daschle Inc.’ steady,” Roll Call, July 28, 2004 

The Issues

As soon as Obama was elected senator, Rouse went to work building  the newcomer’s “street cred.” He and Obama decided to focus on Illinois issues that first year and show that he could be a team player in the Senate, while continuing to lay the groundwork for the future. Defining and honing Obama’s place in the Senate fell largely on Rouse.Frontline interview with Pete Rouse, Oct. 16, 2008   "There was a reason why he was Tom Daschle's former chief of staff. He's one of the best staffers on the Hill, tremendously respected by all," Obama said when he hired Rouse.Lannan, Maura Kelly, “Obama gets committee assignments, hires Daschle aide,” Dec. 6, 2004

Rouse also helped Obama build bridges with conservative members of Congress, like Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). The Washington Post called him “a fixer steeped in the ways of a Washington that Obama has been both eager to learn and quick to publicly condemn,” and Obama said, “Pete’s very good at looking around the corners of decisions.”Bacon Jr., Perry, “The Outsider’s Insider,” The Washington Post, Aug. 27, 2007 

Rouse understands the Senate, and he understands the implications of each vote. When Obama thought about voting to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts because he respected him despite disagreeing with him, Rouse explained that the vote would haunt him in the future.

After the 2008 presidential election, Rouse warned President Obama that a rule barring future lobbying for potential sta White House would be barred from lobbying later, Rouse said it might deter good candidates from applying.
    
People say Rouse is so successful because he trusts his staff and delegates tasks. He gets along with most people, on both side of the aisle. "Everybody smiles when you talk about Pete, because he is tough on the outside and soft on the inside and everybody knows that," Daschle said. "I think his secret of success, his magic, is that he has an amazing capacity to bring disparate people together and create a unity in a level of cooperation and chemistry that is remarkable."Preston, Mark, “A career ally keeps ‘Daschle Inc.’ steady,” Roll Call, July 28, 2004

The Network

After three decades on the Hill, the list of Rouse’s friends in Washington is long and distinguished. But many of his top connections come from his 18 years in Sen. Tom Daschle’s office, 10 of which were as Democratic leader. Obama communications aide Dan Pfeiffer, a former communications director for Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), and Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, a strategist who worked with Vice President Al Gore in 2000, both were friends from Rouse’s days with Daschle.

Rouse also worked as the chief of staff for Durbin when he was in the House.

(photos courtesy Pete Souza / White House)