At the start of then-
Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's
presidential primary campaign, Emanuel was appointed to direct the campaign's finance committee. Emanuel insisted that Clinton schedule much time for fundraising and greatly delay campaigning in
New Hampshire. Clinton embarked on an aggressive national fundraising campaign that allowed the campaign to keep buying television time as attacks on Clinton's character threatened to swamp the campaign during the
New Hampshire primary. Clinton's primary rival,
Paul Tsongas (the New Hampshire Democratic primary winner), later withdrew, citing a lack of campaign funds. Richard Mintz, a Washington public relations consultant who worked with Emanuel on the campaign, spoke about the soundness of the idea: "It was that [extra] million dollars that really allowed the campaign to withstand the storm we had to ride out in New Hampshire [over Clinton's relationship with
Gennifer Flowers and the controversy over his
draft status during the
Vietnam War]." Emanuel's knowledge of the top donors in the country, and his rapport with "heavily Jewish" donors helped Clinton amass a then-unheard-of sum of $72 million. While working on the Clinton campaign Emanuel was a paid retainer of the investment bank
Goldman Sachs.
Following the campaign, Emanuel became a senior advisor to Clinton at the White House from 1993 to 1998. In the White House, Emanuel was initially Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and then Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. He was a leading strategist in White House efforts to institute NAFTA and universal health care, among other Clinton initiatives.
