Rahm Emanuel didn’t receive a public shout out from the president. He wasn’t standing by any podiums when the president announced his health care victory.
He wasn’t in the room when the bill was signed, and he didn’t get one of the 275 pens the president used to sign the legislation.
Emanuel doesn’t care.
"I didn't do this so I would get thanked at the signing or anything else. Let me say this, if that's the question," Emanuel told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in his first interview since legislative victory Thursday. "You should know the night that it passed, or the day it passed, he and I - he came by, gave me a high five.”
See, Rahm doesn’t need accolades. He revels in a job well done.
"I have no doubt of my role in this and I feel quite good about that sense of it," he told the program.
Emanuel was considered a major player in health care reform and he’s credited with corralling a number of congressional votes for the razor thin margin of victory.
Some said he would look to vacate his White House Chief of Staff job after its passage (or failure) and move on to other things like, running for Mayor of Chicago. .
But Emanuel hedged when asked if he would quit one of the most stressful jobs in the country.
"I am going to make this decision - the president and I will make it," he said. "He can make it anytime. My intention is to continue to work and serve here."
