Emanuel: a mayor who can turn Chicago around?

Rahm Emanuel has been elected mayor of Chicago. Barack Obama's former chief-of-staff, who left the White House in October to campaign for his home city's top job, easily defeated his revivals, winning 55 per cent of votes cast.

But the man who once sent a decomposing fish to a hapless pollster has a huge challenge ahead if he is to serve more than one term as mayor of this near-bankrupt city.

Emanuel is just the latest Democrat party heavyweight to hold the position of Chicago mayor. He succeeds Richard M Daley, who will have ruled the city for 22 years by the time he steps down in May.

In 2005, Daley was named as the best of America's big-city mayors by Time magazine, which observed: "He wields near imperial power, and most of Chicago would have it no other way." Chicagoans are grateful to him for turning their city into a tourist hub and avoiding the terminal decline of other rust belt metropolises such as Cleveland and Detroit.

The second longest-serving Chicago mayor is Daley's father, Richard J Daley, who served from 1955-1976 and is referred to as the 'last of the big city bosses'. His power and influence in the Democrat party was such that he has been accused of helping John F Kennedy 'steal' the 1960 election by rigging the vote in Illinois, which JFK won by just 8,000 votes.

Since 1955, Chicago has had a Daley as mayor for all but 12 years, but Emanuel may not represent much of a change from their imperious style. 'Rahmbo', as he was known to White House staffers, came to prominence as a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton from 1993 until 1998.

It may help British readers to imagine him as Alastair Campbell's angry older brother - as Tony Blair could attest. He reportedly once shouted at the then-prime minister before a speech in support of Clinton: "Don't fuck this up!"

And after Clinton was first elected president, Emanuel is said to have stood up at dinner, grabbed a steak knife and repeatedly brought it down on the table, each time reeling off the name of an enemy and screaming, "Dead!"

Back to the present, and Rahmbo must deal with Chicago's structural deficit of $1bn. Cuts will have to be made. Chicagoans appear to believe that if anybody is up to the challenge, it is Emanuel. ·