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A White House’s success is often measured by the dramatic actions it takes. But occasionally the more remarkable breakthroughs come in the form of small symbolic moments.
This week, second gentlemen DOUG EMHOFF did something routine for Jews across the globe. He celebrated Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. But, unlike any other Jew on earth, Emhoff lit his menorah in the Vice President’s residence. In the process, he became the first member or spouse in the executive branch to take in the festival of lights as a matter of religion and not ceremony.
There was no grand pronouncement for this moment. Instead, the marking of it came via a photo posted to Twitter: Emhoff and his wife, Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, holding the Shamash, the light of the candle reflecting on the window in front of them as they placed it gently back in its holder.
What’s striking about the photo is the solemnity on Emhoff's face. There is a shadow cast upon it. While Harris smiles ever so slightly, his mouth is pinched. His eyes seem somber as he looks down on the menorah, laying there on a barren, wooden table. It’s as if a sense of gravity has spread across the room alongside the candle light. A few nights later, as Emhoff spoke on a congressional Hanukkah celebration Zoom call, he revealed it had.
From our family to yours, Happy Hanukkah. pic.twitter.com/yfCQfsE1uX
— Douglas Emhoff (@SecondGentleman) November 29, 2021
“It is pretty incredible to not only be the first second gentlemen but the first Jewish spouse of a sitting president or vice president,” Emhoff told the gathering of roughly 150 that included, among others, JON ‘BOWZER’ BAUMAN, best known for his stint with the band Sha Na Na. “I feel it for my 84-year-old father and his friends... To see a Jewish person in this role and embracing our traditions and customs, it matters. This representation really matters. I feel it. It's humbling.”
Emhoff never set out to be an historic Jewish figure. Those who know him don’t say he’s terribly observant and he has never claimed to be. Growing up in Old Bridge, New Jersey, he celebrated the holidays and was bar mitzvahed. In many ways, he’s lived the modern American Jewish experience: culturally assimilated, while identifying spiritually and practicing infrequently.
As second gentleman, however, Emhoff has embraced his Jewish identity with understated earnestness. It doesn’t define him. He ignored a personal request to talk for this piece, though his press official, having said it would take a “Hanukkah miracle” to get him on the phone, did applaud my “chutzpah” in trying.
But he doesn't shy away from it either. He addressed the Jewish Democratic Council of America, hosted a virtual seder, and visited the Holocaust musuem while in Paris with the vice president last month. When he took a trip to his childhood home in October, he stopped by his childhood temple.
“I think he feels a sense of pride,” said HALIE SOIFER, who heads the JDCA and previously served as national security adviser for then-Sen. Harris. “And it’s clear that he’s embraced it. I think he understands the importance of this historic role and the magnitude of the role.”
His Judaism hasn’t just been displayed as political acts, but personal ones too. This month, Emhoff affixed a mezuzah to the wooden entryway of the Naval Observatory, the vice president’s residence. The prayer scroll, which marks the sanctity of a Jewish home, had been provided by Rabbi PETER BERG of Hebrew Benevolent Congregation in Atlanta. And as the ceremony began, the two seemed washed over by the symbolism of it all.
“When I started this service, I didn't expect it. We all got a little bit teary,” said Berg. “We understood what this meant in American history. We also knew what it meant for Jews in this challenging time. Part of the beauty of the moment was to be able to say, we can be proud to be Jews and Americans and for much of Jewish history, Jews have not been able to say that.”
As a Jew, I too found myself unexpectedly emotional as I took that first glance at Emhoff and Harris lighting their menorah. Such a common act — one I’d literally done minutes before in my own home — moved me to near tears. I struggled to understand why.
The simplest explanation is the one Berg offered: that at a time of rising anti-Semitism, of callous comparisons between the Holocaust and Covid-19 vaccine mandates, a profound relief took over me when I saw Judiasm proudly celebrated by those at the highest levels of political power.
And then, I realized it was not Emhoff’s celebration of Hanukkah that affected me but the muted reaction to it. There were no screeching headlines or overwrought analyses. Whatever vile responses there may have been were confined to the dark corners of the Internet.
It was, in the end, just a small symbolic moment. But it was remarkable still and the implicit acceptance of it made it monumental.
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POTUS PUZZLER
From the University of Virginia’s Miller Center
Which president claimed: "The Supreme Court has been acting not as a judicial body, but as a policy-making body"?
(Answer at the bottom.)
Cartoon of the Week
Every Friday, we’ll feature a cartoon of the week — this one is courtesy of our very own MATT WUERKER. He also publishes a selection of cartoons from all over the country. View the cartoon carousel here.
The Oval
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: The White House was very excited about their new chart today touting the latest jobs report that shows a decrease in the unemployment rate to 4.2 percent since the passage of the American Rescue Plan last Winter. Senior associate communications director MATT HILL quote-tweeted the chart with a nod to the recent rough media coverage. “Looking forward to The Narrative™ shifting towards how President's Biden's economic plans and pandemic response are getting Americans back to work,” he wrote, adding a yellow flexed bicep emoji.
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: While the unemployment rate went down, Covid-19 cases in some states are going up and straining hospitals. The Boston Globe ran a story with the headline: “‘We ran out of ICU beds today’: Hospitals stagger under strain as COVID-19 cases reach highest level since winter.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported yesterday that a “Green Bay hospital was forced to turn patients away as beds become limited and COVID-19 cases surge.”
And in Ohio, the Cleveland Clinic, the MetroHealth System and University Hospitals released a joint statement Friday saying health systems are seeing “unprecedented demand for inpatient care,” per Cleveland’s Fox 8 News. “All three hospital groups are making adjustments to non-urgent surgeries at certain locations,” Fox 8 reported.
FAUCI CLEAN-UP: Appearing on Fox Business with NEIL CAVUTO today, Dr. ANTHONY FAUCI cleaned up his controversial interview with “Face the Nation” last week when he said his critics are “really criticizing science, because I represent science. That's dangerous.”
Cavuto asked about the remark and Fauci said: “I wasn't being pejorative to anyone. And I'm certainly not — I mean, I can take criticism. And I'm not being pejorative against critics.”
Noting his mission of promoting vaccines and masks, he added: “When you're coming at me with bullets and slings, I mean, what is it that you're criticizing? You're criticizing what I'm saying. And what I'm saying is public health-based and science-based. So that's what I meant when I said, I represent scientific principles. And if people are starting to criticize that, you have to come to the conclusion that they're criticizing the scientific principles. That's what I meant.” Watch the full 20 minute interview here.
‘I’M BATMAN’: Twitter and the world noticed today that President JOE BIDEN’s voice sounded very different — a deeper, raspier, coarser tone — during his remarks about the November jobs report. And after a couple of coughs and clearing of his throat, the president offered up an explanation.
“I am OK. I have a test every day to see, a COVID test. I’ve been checking for all the strands. What I have is a one-and-a-half-year-old grandson who had a cold, who likes to kiss his pop. And he’s been kissing ... anyway,” the president said. “But it’s just a cold.
The White House later released a memo from the president’s doctor, KEVIN O’CONNOR, that said Biden is experiencing “some increased nasal congestion this week.”
“This can be heard in his voice and he is feeling the colloquially well-known ‘frog in ones throat,’” O’Connor wrote. Biden tested negative for 19 common respiratory pathogens, including Covid-19, influenza and streptococcus. O’Connor said Biden has been tested for Covid-19 three times this week. He’s being treated with over the counter medications for his symptoms.
KNOLLER CORNER: With Biden spending his weekend at Camp David, veteran White House reporter and chronicler MARK KNOLLER sends us his latest presidential stat line. It’s Biden’s 12th visit to Camp David as president and brings his total time there to all or part of 40 days.
Here’s how that compares to predecessors at same point in their presidencies:
- Trump: 4 visits (9 days)
- Obama: 11 visits (27 days)
- GW Bush: 23 visits (71 days)
- Clinton: 4 visits (11 days)
- Reagan: 19 visits (57 days)
IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME: Biden spoke in the State Dining Room, which is full of Christmas decorations, including the White House gingerbread house — a tradition since the late 1960s. NPR White House correspondent TAMARA KEITH included some photos in a tweet: “Bonus of being in the state dining room to cover @POTUS jobs Friday remark…Christmas decorations!!”
Agenda Setting
BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP — Speaking in Iowa ahead of his 2008 presidential run, Biden had harsh words for Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer at the time. “My problem with Walmart is that I don’t see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people,” he told the crowd that day.
That was then. Over the first year of his presidency, the retail giant he once lambasted has become a key ally of his administration, HAILEY FUCHS reports (follow her!).“Thank you. You've been really — really cooperative,” he told Walmart CEO DOUG McMILLON on Monday, during a meeting with CEOs on problems with the supply chain and concerns heading into the holiday shopping season. “I can't tell you how much we appreciate it.”
What We're Reading
Joe Biden’s year was ruined. Whose fault is that? (The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson)
Biden, allies increasingly pushing back at GOP’s virus barbs (AP’s Zeke Miller)
Burnout, money, concern drive Harris turnover (Axios’ Alexi McCammond and Sarah Mucha)
Omicron is spreading more than twice as quickly as the Delta variant in South Africa, scientists report (NYTimes’ Apoorva Mandavilli and Lynsey Chutel)
What We're Watching
Surgeon General VIVEK MURTHY on Fox News Sunday, which airs at 9 a.m. ET.
Principal deputy press secretary KARINE JEAN PIERRE will be on MSNBC’s The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart this Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.
Sec. MARTY WALSH not ruling out a gubernatorial run on CNN.
Where's Joe
He received the president’s daily brief, and delivered remarks about the November jobs report at the White House. He also had lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris.
In the evening, the president left the White House to head to Camp David.
Where's Kamala
No public events scheduled.
The Oppo Book
LORRAINE VOLES, an adviser to the vice president, has one really interesting, morbid hobby.
“I am an avid obituary reader,” she confessed to us back in Jan. 2020.
Asked to share one of her favorite obituaries, the vice president’s office did not respond.
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, in a 1937 "Fireside Chat" making the argument for the expansion of the Supreme Court, a tactic dubbed "Court Packing." FDR was unsuccessful in his attempt to increase the number of justices.
For resources on FDR and the other presidents, visit millercenter.org.
Got a better question? Send us your hardest trivia question on the presidents and we may feature it on Wednesdays. We also want your feedback. What should we be covering in this newsletter that we’re not? What are we getting wrong? Please let us know.
Edited by Emily Cadei
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