It was up to us — Michelle and I — to persuade him, he always listened to us, but we knew that this time it was going to be a hard sell. I hate telling Barack what he does n’t want to hear. I knew this was going to be the most painful talk I ’d ever had with him.

Valerie Jarrett

Categorized in : Opinion

I care so passionately about improving the quality of life for women and girls, not just here in the United States, but internationally as well. I am a single mom and I raised a daughter who is now a young adult.

Valerie Jarrett

daughter girl mom

Our whole philosophy is one of transparency.

Valerie Jarrett

inspiring inspirational philosophy

FACT: Nothing in Obamacare forces people out of their health plans.

Valerie Jarrett

obamacare facts people

For me, having a daughter made me much more efficient and productive. I would wake up in the morning trying to figure out how to organize my day so that I could get home. The phone calls with friends, the lunches out with colleagues - all of that got scrapped so that I could be as efficient and productive as possible.

Valerie Jarrett

daughter home morning

Women now make up approximately half of the workforce - very positive. Two-thirds of all families are either headed by a single-head of household or two working parents, and particularly in this economically challenging time, that second income is more important than ever. However, women are still only earning 75 percent of what men are earning.

Valerie Jarrett

parent challenges men

My daughter is, of course, perfect. Everyone's child is, but mine really is perfect. But I could not have raised her without my parents. From the time she was seven months until now, I have been a single parent.

Valerie Jarrett

daughter mother children

President Obama celebrates diversity, yet instinctively seeks common ground and builds on that common ground to make progress.

Valerie Jarrett

progress diversity usa

Women spend 30 percent more time doing household chores. No surprise. But women also spend more time volunteering in their community. And if you add up all of the hours of non-leisure time, women are working more than men. So I thought that was very interesting, and I was surprised about the voluntarism piece, but when you think about it, it makes sense.

Valerie Jarrett

volunteer men thinking

From day one, President Obama has made improving the quality of life for woman a top priority. It's why he created the White House Council on Women and Girls that I'm so proud to chair. Our directive was to look across the board at all of the federal agencies and determine what we could do to improve the quality of life for women and girls.

Valerie Jarrett

priorities girl house

Change is never fast enough to satisfy us. I still hear too many stories of women who go back to work too soon, but I do believe that we have been able to change the paradigm in attitudes towards family leave in that it's no longer a nice thing to do for women, it's a must do for competitiveness, and that's a big change over the last seven years. Changing it into an economic issue is a big sea change in the last seven years.

Valerie Jarrett

nice attitude believe

The President has been a big proponent of the public option since the campaign.

Valerie Jarrett

campaigns bigs president

There are certain things that Americans expect their government to do. Our infrastructure is vitally important. Putting people back to work with construction is important. Our roads, our bridges, our sewers, our waterways, our dams - this is what makes our country so special.

Valerie Jarrett

government bridges country

The world it changing very quickly and we can't wait another 50 years!

Valerie Jarrett

waiting world

A new era of responsibility is here.

Valerie Jarrett

new-era eras responsibility

Please be assured that as we move along through the implementation of health insurance reform, making sure that we find efficiencies within the existing system, is foremost on the President's mind.

Valerie Jarrett

president mind moving

The United States is a strong and ardent ally of Israel. The fact of the matter is that friends can disagree. I think what's important is that world leaders are able to sit down with one another, have frank conversations and move forward.

Valerie Jarrett

strong moving thinking

People are struggling. They're trying to make ends meet, and they're looking for Washington to deliver for them. And they don't feel that that's been happening as quickly as it should. We share that frustration. There's no one more frustrated than President Obama.

Valerie Jarrett

frustration struggle people

I just worry a lot. I'm a worrier. Michelle and Barack are really dear to me. I mean, I love them. And I don't want to see them get hurt. Just the nature of politics is hurtful. So every time they are hurt, I get hurt. It's a lot to ask of people, and it's a lot to see your friends go through. It's hard not to get emotional.

Valerie Jarrett

emotional hurt mean

We talked about the resources that the justice department has available to help them -- the technical assistance to ensure that we're diffusing situations, not encouraging them to spiral out of control.

Valerie Jarrett

spirals justice helping

My goal in the new administration is to engage all of the stakeholders, everyone who can help us meet the challenges of the 21st century, and ensure that we work together.

Valerie Jarrett

working-together goal challenges