Rahm Emanuel
U.S. Ambassador to Japan
Rahm Israel Emanuel was born in November 1959 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned an undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College and received a Master of Arts in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University. He spent two weeks as a volunteer with the Israel Defense Forces during the Gulf War.
He entered political life as a community organizer with Illinois Public Action. He worked on political campaigns for a gubernatorial candidate, a congressional candidate, and Chicago mayor Richard Daley. He would later direct the campaign finance committee in Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. He served in President Clinton’s White House as a senior advisor to the president on policy and strategy. He left that position and established his career in finance working with a banking firm in Illinois. President Clinton named Emanuel to the Board of Directors of Freddie Mac, where he served for one year.
Emanuel was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, a position he held for six years. In 2008, he accepted the position of White House Chief of staff for President Barack Obama. In 2011, he became Mayor of Chicago, serving eight years. After his time as mayor, Emanuel was a contributing editor to The Atlantic magazine and a political analyst for ABC News.
In 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Emanuel to be ambassador to Japan. He was confirmed by the Senate and presented his credentials to the Japanese Emperor in March 2022.
He is married to Amy Rule and they have three children. He is Jewish.
In the News…
The U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, newly established in that position, generally uses his time to promote trade and harmony between the two countries.
However, in the past week, he has had interchanges with both Beijing and Moscow. After a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman addressed Emanuel for his criticism of China, the ambassador ignored typical diplomacy, stating:
“I always like to start my Monday morning with a good laugh and a good joke. To be accused by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman of coercion and threats by a nation that cut off commercial energy supplies to Europe and essential food to Africa is laughable at best and hypocritical at worst. … To be lectured about ‘igniting tensions’ by a country in month seven of ‘special operations’ (war) against the Ukrainian people is delusional. But I suppose it’s understandable when your only friends are Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Belarus. When you have friends like these—all practitioners of nuclear coercion, you have a new club of coercion—‘The Coercive Five.’ I’m always open to a debate on freedom, rule of law, individual rights and transparency, but you Maria Zakharova, might require translation as these are foreign to you.”
His official statement was shared on social media in both English and Japanese, calling Russia part of the “Coercive Five.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Ambassador Emanuel today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Rahm Emanuel
Ambassador to Japan
c/o U.S. Department of State
2201 C St NW
Washington, DC 20520
