The man behind the rise of Barack Obama.

• Author: Fischer, Raymond L.
• Position: Political Landscape - David Axelrod

"The President presented [David] Axelrod with a book in which he had written, This book is a testament to our collaboration and how you have always been there to help me find my voice.' "

DAVID AXELROD began his professional life as a reporter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune. After eight years there, he left in 1984 to enter politics. As a political consultant, he managed strategy for more than 150 local, state, and national campaigns. He served as a senior strategist for Barack Obama's senatorial and presidential campaigns, and as a senior advisor to the president during Obama's first term. After the 2012 campaign, Axelrod retired from active politics and founded the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. He also has written a book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics (2015), which chronicles his life as a political consultant from the time he left the Tribune to his retirement.

In 1960, when he was five years old, Axelrod witnessed John F. Kennedy's visit to New York's Stuyvesant Town. From the moment he heard then-Sen. and future Pres. Kennedy (D. Mass.) speak, he knew he wanted to be "part of the action." Axelrod continues to believe he had a "calling" for politics, an opportunity to "forge the future" in campaigns and to influence progress in government. As a campaign "guru--the driver of the strategy," he found campaigns to be exhilarating and exhausting. During campaigns, Axelrod projected utter assurance, and he relished every moment--"the combat, camaraderie, and satisfaction of spending himself in a worthy cause." In his 40 years in politics, Axelrod journeyed from innocent times to the "inner sanctums of historic campaigns and the White House."

After he left the Tribune for "a new adventure," he helped friends with their political campaigns. "In the blink of an eye," Axelrod made the transition from chronicler to campaigner. He first worked as campaign manager for Democrat Paul Simon--who served in the House of Representatives and Senate, and also was Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. With For rest Claypool as his partner, he formed Axelrod and Associates, "political strategists and ad makers." As campaign manager, Axelrod dealt with politicians and the press and spent long hours before cameras and microphones. He worked to understand the crucial--and often shifting--dynamics of candidates, voters, and venues. Axelrod learned campaigns that won always defined "what the race is about." Convinced voters were...