The president announced October 1 that longtime counselor Pete Rouse will serve

The president announced October 1 that longtime counselor Pete Rouse will serve as interim chief of staff following the departure of Rahm Emanuel, whom Obama laughingly described as “leaving his post today to explore other opportunities.” Media outlets across the country have reported Emanuel will be a mayoral candidate in the city of Chicago in 2011.

Rouse, whose mother is Japanese-American, is the latest in a string of Asian Americans among Washington, D.C.’s power elite, a team chosen by Hawaii-born President Barack Obama. Rouse, who is from Connecticut and was a congressional and Obama aide, is the first Asian American to become chief of staff.

The White House chief of staff, an office established in 1952, serves as the U.S. president’s senior aide. The chief of staff typically is involved in the president’s major decisions and frequently represents the president during negotiations with congressional leaders. Within the White House, the chief of staff manages the staff, sets the tone for the office operations and coordinates the work of the many offices within the Executive Office of the President.

The position, which is filled at the discretion of the president, was first established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and, for a time, Jimmy Carter opted not to have a chief of staff, but every president since then has filled the post.

Rouse served as Obama’s chief of staff in the U.S. Senate, an adviser on the Obama presidential campaign and a White House staff member throughout the Obama administration. He also had been chief of staff to South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle, who had been Senate majority leader until his defeat in the 2004 election. He is the grandson of Japanese immigrants.