Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor—Bronx-raised, now the inhabitant of a West Village condo—is only the latest New Yorker to be tapped by President Obama to come down to Washington. Here, some of the city’s major contributions to the executive branch.
Hillary ClintonSecretary of State Grew up in Illinois, although she campaigned for New York governor Nelson Rockefeller in his 1968 bid for the presidency. Lives in Chappaqua with Bill, who runs the William J. Clinton Foundation, which is headquartered in Harlem; their daughter, Chelsea, consults for the Avenue Capital Group hedge fund in midtown. Served as the state’s junior senator from 2001 to 2009. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Eric HolderAttorney general Born in the Bronx; grew up in East Elmhurst, Queens. Co-captain of the basketball team at Stuyvesant High School. Attended Columbia and Columbia Law. Got a job in the Justice Department’s public-integrity section after reading about it in the Post. Cut class to see one of the first Mets games at Shea Stadium; big fan of the (football) Giants. Photo: courtesy US Department of Justice.
Timothy Geithner Treasury secretary Born in Brooklyn though he spent his childhood all over the world; his father, a Ford Foundation employee, moved often. Lived in Larchmont, as his parents once did, during his tenure at the Fed; his mother had taught piano lessons there. Put his house on the market for $1.6 million in March, though it hasn’t sold. Baseball allegiances unknown, though he did let the Mets keep their Citi Field naming-rights deal. Photo: chip somodevilla/getty images.
Steve Rattner Automotive-business adviser to secretary of the Treasury (a.k. a. “Car Czar”) Born in the city, grew up in Great Neck. His father wrote Off Broadway plays, and his mother taught architecture at Columbia; together, they operated Paragon Paint in Long Island City. His Quadrangle Group private-equity firm manages Mayor Bloomberg’s fortune and owns Maxim magazine, among many other things. Photo: Jemal Countess/ Getty Images.
Adolfo Carrión Director, White House Office of Urban Affairs Grew up in Baychester, Bronx. Has served as borough president, city councilman, community-board district manager, and public-school teacher in the Bronx. Lived on City Island during borough-president tenure; sang “La Borinqueña,” the Puerto Rican anthem, when he was sworn in to the City Council. A Yankee fan, obviously. Photo: Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images.
Shaun Donovan Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Born and raised in Manhattan; graduated in 1983 from Dalton, where he played on the bridge team. Actually attended the 1977 Yankees-Dodgers World Series game during which Howard Cosell announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning.” Served as a visiting scholar at NYU; took a leave of absence from job as city’s Housing commissioner to work on Obama campaign. Photo: Courtesy of US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Thomas Frieden Director of the Centers for Disease Control (appointed; takes office in June) Born at Doctors Hospital on East End Avenue; has lived in Washington Heights, the East Village, Brooklyn Heights, and Tribeca. Likes to bike along the West Side Highway; enjoys bagels, cheesecake, and sushi. Worked with soon-to-be-confirmed FDA head Margaret Hamburg when she was city Health commissioner in the nineties. Photo: chris hondros/getty images.
Jacob Lew Deputy secretary of State for management and resources Grew up in Queens. Volunteered for Eugene McCarthy’s campaign in the state; worked for Bella Abzug on Capitol Hill. Served as executive vice president of NYU, then as COO of Citi Alternative Investments, a boutique money-management firm within Citicorp. Ran the Office of Management and Budget for Bill Clinton, whose wife hired him at State. Photo: Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images.
Jeh Johnson General counsel, Department of Defense Family lived in the Dorie Miller Co-op in Corona, Queens, a locus of New York’s African-American middle class in the fifties. Attended Columbia Law. Still has the 1969 Mets lineup memorized. Used to live on West 95th Street but now has a home in Montclair, N.J. Calls himself a “White Castle junkie.” Spends one Saturday every year spinning R&B for Newark, N.J., public-radio station WBGO. Photo: courtesy US Department of Defense.