President Joe Biden said he will nominate Rahm Emanuel as his ambassador to Japan Friday, capping off months of speculation that the former Chicago mayor would be tapped for the prominent foreign post.
The move will give Biden a deeply experienced government tactician and political veteran in his ranks of top diplomats, but the choice will also receive continued criticism from some in the Democratic Party’s progressive wing who have been critical of Emanuel’s eight-year tenure as mayor.
“For nearly 30 years I have worked with President Biden on behalf of the American people, and I am honored that he has nominated me to serve as Ambassador to Japan,” Emanuel said in a statement released by the White House. “The alliance between the United States and Japan is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in a free and open Indo-Pacific, and I would proudly represent our nation with one of our most critical global allies in one of the most critical geopolitical regions.”
Biden’s selection of Emanuel as ambassador had been expected since the spring. The president also on Friday named Nicholas Burns as ambassador to China, an assignment for which Emanuel also had been in the running. Burns, a former ambassador and senior State Department official who is currently a Harvard professor, helped advise Biden’s campaign on foreign policy.
Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Rahm Emanuel following an event celebrating the first domestic violence shelter built in the city in more than a decade in Chicago on Monday, Nov. 25, 2013. The ceremony will launch the construction of a new two-story WINGS Metro facility housing, a 40-bed domestic violence shelter with retail and resale shops, offices, and social services for clients. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)
“This region of the world and these two relationships are among the most important for the United States, for different reasons. So the President has nominated two people with a tremendous amount of experience,” said a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the selections.
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“One, Rahm Emanuel, who has had a distinguished career in public service — mayor of the third largest city in the U.S., chief of staff to President Obama, member of the US House of Representative, and Sr. Adviser to President Clinton,” the official said. “The other — a professional diplomat who has served Presidents of both political parties and has four decades of experience in diplomacy all around the world.”
Emanuel could not immediately be reached for comment.
The former mayor now faces confirmation by the U.S. Senate before he can take up the post in Tokyo. The Biden administration has faced criticism for the slow pace of its ambassador appointments, with its first nominees gaining confirmation from the Senate just earlier this month.
The earliest Emanuel could expect confirmation would be this fall. It’s likely his nomination will be considered along with several other ambassador choices, lessening the likelihood he would face individual scrutiny from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Emanuel has faced criticism on the left for his handling while mayor of the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald and from Republicans for Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city and its history of struggling to tamp down violent crime. However, he has deep relationships in Washington and Congress with an established track record as a top official in two White Houses.
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As Biden fills out his slate of ambassadors, he has looked to reduce the number of political appointees to embassies around the world in favor of career diplomats — a move that is aimed at reinvigorating confidence in the State Department and longtime Foreign Service officials. Political appointees typically fall into one of two categories: experienced and connected officeholders such as Emanuel and those who bundled major campaign contributions for the president.
In Japan, the nation’s leaders have come to expect a high-profile name as the top U.S. envoy. Emanuel fits that bill as a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, a member of the U.S. House leadership and first chief of staff to President Barack Obama prior to his tenure running City Hall in the nation’s third-largest city.
Emanuel would enter the job with the most political and government experience since Howard H. Baker Jr., the former Republican Senate majority leader who served as former President Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff and served as ambassador to Japan under former President George W. Bush.
Former Vice President Walter Mondale served as ambassador to Japan in the Clinton administration. Obama chose California fundraiser and businessman John Roos to serve as envoy to Japan followed by Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy. Most recently under former President Donald Trump, the post was held by Tennessee Republican businessman Bill Hagerty, who stepped down from the position in July 2019 to launch a successful U.S. Senate bid.
“Our ambassadors to Japan have a long history of distinguished public service from both parties and I am humbled to follow so many statesmen who have served in this role,” Emanuel said in his statement. “I look forward to discussing my nomination with the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and, if confirmed, to serving the United States of America.”
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Prior to winning Biden’s nod for ambassador, Emanuel made little secret that he coveted an appointment as Biden’s transportation secretary, a push that met fierce resistance from progressives. Powerhouse U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, some union leaders and the Rev. Al Sharpton among others opposed Emanuel as a cabinet pick.
Former South Bend mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg ultimately got the nod instead.
Getting selected as an ambassador amounts to a political consolation prize for Emanuel, but it also gives him a foothold back in national and international politics. Since leaving office in May 2019, Emanuel has been working as a Chicago-based adviser for Wall Street investment firm Centerview Partners and as a political analyst for ABC News.
A foreign assignment for Emanuel may not draw quite the ire from critics as a cabinet post would. Larry Cohen, the chairman of the Our Revolution group that backed progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, said as much to The New York Times earlier this year.
“None of the people we were afraid of got into this cabinet,” Cohen said. “It’s fine and well for Rahm Emanuel to be an ambassador someplace.”
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Still, some had not given up the anti-Emanuel fight in the months leading up to Biden’s selection. A progressive coalition of groups, including some in Chicago, opposed Emanuel in a foreign post, citing a lack of “ethics, integrity and diplomatic skills.”
As mayor, Emanuel took a 44-member delegation from Chicago on a trade trip to Japan and China. The group was made up mostly of business heavyweights, including donors with ties to nearly $2 million in contributions to Emanuel’s campaign, the Tribune reported at the time.
Emanuel’s official calendar for the trip shows he spoke at a business council investment forum, held a dinner reception for various Japanese businesses and met with several government officials, including Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo; Yasutoshi Nishimura, deputy chief cabinet secretary; and Kazuyuki Nakane, the state minister of foreign affairs.
Emanuel also met with James Nudo, president of DMG Mori, a company that makes machine tools for the auto, aerospace and other industries. A few weeks following the trip, DMG Mori announced it was moving its North American headquarters and 250 jobs from suburban Hoffman Estates to Chicago to be closer to the staff and students at Illinois Institute of Technology in Bronzeville.
The former mayor also had drinks at a Tokyo bar with Takeshi Niinami, president of Suntory Holdings Limited, the Japanese beverage giant. During Emanuel’s tenure, subsidiary Beam Suntory moved its global headquarters from suburban Deerfield to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.
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If confirmed, Emanuel’s role as ambassador would mark the second time he’s returned to the public sector following a stint in investment banking. And spending a few years in Japan could further deepen his well of business contacts, should he decide to pass through the revolving door a third time back to the private sector.
After serving in the Clinton White House, Emanuel made $16 million in a little more than two years as an investment banker. As part of the confirmation process, Emanuel would be required to disclose his financial assets and income at Centerview Partners.
As mayor, Emanuel regularly released his tax returns, with the most recent showing an income of $554,000 in 2017. Earlier this year, Emanuel and his wife Amy Rule gave $100,000 to the Star Scholarship program he created at City Colleges of Chicago.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
bruthhart@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BillRuthhart
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