WASHINGTON: 

tried and tested: Barack Obama with Rahm Emanuel. file pic/ap

US President-elect Barack Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his new administration yesterday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff.

In offering the post to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination.

Emanuel was a political and policy aide in Bill Clinton's White House. Leaving that, he turned to investment banking, then won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority.

Emanuel maintained neutrality during the primary battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton, not surprising given his long-standing ties to the former first lady and his Illinois connections with Obama.

The day after the election there already was jockeying for Cabinet appointments. Several Democrats said Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who ran against George W Bush four years ago, was angling for secretary of state.