Q&A with Valerie Jarrett, White House Olympic Chief

Valerie Jarrett says the President still plans to campaign for Chicago even if he can't get to the IOC Session inCopenhagen. (Getty Images) (ATR) The closest aide to President Barack Obama also has his ear for the Olympics. Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to the president, has known him for years from Chicago, where she made her mark in government and business. A former vice chair of Chicago 2016, she now heads the new White House Office on Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport, in addition to her other work with the president.

She and First Lady Michelle Obama will represent the White House at the IOC Session in Copenhagen, promoting the Chicago Olympic bid.

Jarrett spoke with Around the Rings at the White House earlier this week after an event hosted by the Obamas to support the Chicago bid.

Around the Rings: Why is Chicago the city to host the Olympics?

Valerie Jarrett: Well, where would I begin? It’s a world class city with its lakefront and fantastic venues that are all over not just the city of Chicago but all the way up to Wisconsin. We’ve got a city of neighborhoods, over 77 neighborhoods where over 100 languages are spoken, so people from all over the world when they come to Chicago they’ll be finding home as well.

We are being very efficient in how we are designing transportation systems so that the athletes will be able to move around together with all the visitors who will be there so it will be an extraordinary experience in a wonderful ambiance. And beyond that I think it’s important to think about the legacy that will be left behind.

Chicago is a city that really embodies the Olympic spirit, it’s a city where people of all nationalities, races, religions, backgrounds can come together work hard, have dreams, pursue those dreams, in a wonderful, wonderful welcoming city, and that’s what the Olympic movement is all about. So there’s no better place than Chicago to host the Olympic Games.

ATR: One of the questions people ask on the international level is what kind of support the federal government can offer the Chicago Olympics if it can’t offer financial guarantees for the Games. The governments of Brazil, Spain, and Japan have all pledged billions of dollars in support for their bids. What can the U.S. Government provide to support the Olympics?

VJ: You know, what the U.S. Government is doing is what it has done in the past very successfully, so for example in Atlanta and in L.A. as well is where we coordinate all the different federal departments that will be so important to make sure the Games are executed flawlessly. So everything from homeland security to transportation to environment to education and the list goes on from there. So we make sure every possible federal agency that has a role to play is coordinated through the White House in our new office of Olympic, Paralympic, and Youth Sport.

And so one of the functions of our office is to make sure we have seamless coordination at the federal level.

The City of Chicago last week unanimously passed an ordinance that gives the backing of the city of Chicago, second largest, third largest city in the country prepared to stand behind the financial success of the Games.

So we have no concerns whether or not the city of Chicago will be able to manage the budget, and put on the Games, not just to break even, but we should come out ahead. Not to mention all the tourism that comes as a result of the Games afterward.

ATR: If the bid is successful, you are a mover and shaker in Chicago. Would you like a direct role in leading a Chicago organizing committee?

VJ: Well actually I have a really good job here in Washington! So I have moved from Chicago, I have joined the Obama administration, I am a senior advisor to the President of the United States—it doesn’t get much better than that.

However, I am proud that one of my responsibilities here in the White House is to oversee the Office of Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport. And so I will look forward to working with the Chicago 2016 team, and coordinating at the federal level, but I have no intentions of leaving the Obama administration.

ATR: Opponents of the bid have said that massive projects such as the Olympics lead to corruption, influence peddling, cost overruns and so on. You know the city, are these concerns valid?

VJ: Not at all. I think one of the strengths of the Chicago bid is that we have great expertise from the private sector that has been involved since the very beginning. And so Pat Ryan, former chairman of Aon, together with 100 plus Olympic committee—all people from the private sector—all people with great expertise who have lent their private expertise to help us manage this project. I think we’ll make sure we stay on schedule, on budget, and are ready and able to host the Games when the time comes. So I have no concerns about the city’s ability to manage this.

ATR: One of the things that we’ve been hearing from IOC members is that if President Obama goes to Copenhagen, there is a very good chance Chicago might win the Olympics. Does the President realize how highly his presence is regarded?

VJ: Well I think the IOC members who say that haven’t met our First Lady yet! Just wait Valerie Jarrett is a long time adviser to President Obama. (Getty Images)until they see Michelle Obama. And as he said today, as the President mentioned today, she’s the perfect ambassador for the games. Michelle grew up in Chicago, on the South Side of Chicago, not far from where the Olympic Stadium will be. She is in a sense the embodiment of the Olympic spirit. Someone who grew up from a working class family, who went to Chicago public schools, who worked hard through the best college and law school in our country and look where she is stationed.

She is First Lady of the United States, and I think that is part of the Olympic spirit. And so having Michelle as our ambassador, the President feels strongly that she will, her life story will resonate very personally with the IOC members. And part of the competition is that they understand how deeply we care about the Games. And Michelle is the perfect person to deliver that message.

President Obama has been an ardent supporter of the bid since the competition began. He’s participated in numerous videos, written letters, called President Rogge last Friday, had a great conversation and conveyed directly and personally the President of the IOC his commitment to the Games so I don’t think any of the members of the IOC will question the president’s commitment to the Games, and the fact he’s asked his wife who’s passionate about the Games as well to be the ambassador from the United States. When they meet her, there will be no doubt in their mind that Chicago is the place to be. I expect there won’t be a dry eye in the room by the time she’s finished with them.

ATR: President Obama called IOC President Jacques Rogge. Will he call other IOC members as appropriate?

VJ: Yes, yes, he intends to make other calls in the course of the next 16 days and he’s going to work very hard to win over each and every IOC member. He understands how important every vote on the IOC is. He doesn’t take a single vote for granted and as the next 16 days is really the culmination of three years of hard work. And as he said today, “let the Games begin in Chicago”. So we have his full support and backing.

ATR: So is he targeting specific IOC members or is he calling all of them?

VJ: You see now you’re asking me about strategy and part of a competition is you don’t divulge your strategy. So let’s just put it this way; we’re working very closely with Chicago 2016 to come up with a strategy to use the President’s time most effectively to convince the key people we need to convince that Chicago is the place for them to be. And he looks forward to welcoming the Olympics to our shores here in the United States.

ATR: Is there a chance the President will make it to Copenhagen? We haven’t heard a definite no.

VJ: Well it’s not on his schedule now and as he said today, health care reform which benefits every single American is his first domestic priority, and that’s why it’s on the table front and center right now as you heard when he gave his speech last week just how important this is to him. So it currently isn’t on his schedule, he thinks he will be very well represented, he and our country will be very well represented by our First Lady.

ATR: What will you and Mrs. Obama communicate to IOC members in Copenhagen?

VJ: Well I think we’ll have an opportunity, both of us grew up in Chicago, to talk about the city, and why its so consistent with the Olympic spirit and the Olympic movement and to describe the 77 neighborhoods and the 100 languages, and people who reside in Chicago, not only coming from all over the United States but in fact all over the world and it’s a city where everyone can feel at home.

So I think part of our presentation will be very personal in nature. Michelle will have an opportunity to tell her story, when I’m talking to individual IOC members I can tell them my story of growing up in Chicago. And then we’ll also move to a substantive conversation about why it’s important to the United States to host the Games. How important it is to the Obama administration. It sends a signal around the world that the United States is back and inclusive and wants to be a part of the Olympic movement and that our philosophy is consistent with spirit of the Olympic movement. So I think you’ll find our presentation to be quite personal in nature.

ATR: The U.S. is also bidding for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Will the White House support that bid as well?

VJ: Absolutely, absolutely. I think that the White House will be fully behind the World Cup as well. We will compete wherever we have the opportunity to compete. We think that our country, at this moment in time is the perfect place to host world competitions. I think President Obama has made it clear that he wants the kind of administration that is warm and welcoming to people who are outside of the United States, that this is a place where we want visitors to come and have a great experience, whether it is visiting Chicago or whether it is visiting the rest our wonderful country. So I think looking at the President’s popularity around the world it sends a very important message that the Untied States is back.

With reporting from Ed Hula III in Washington D.C. Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com