Oral history interview with Penny S. Pritzker, 2022
Abstract
Penny Pritzker reflects on her personal and professional relationships with Barack and Michelle Obama, and discusses her service as national finance chair for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and national co-chair of Obama's 2012 presidential reelection campaign. Pritzker shares stories of her relationship with the Obama family, describes the Obamas' balance of family and political life, and reco unts Barack Obama's political trajectory, including his development as a political candidate. She speaks widely about her role on Obama's political campaigns, and provides details about the development of a national campaign infrastructure in 2008, the use of regional fundraising networks, the setting of fundraising goals, and the youth enthusiasm surrounding Obama's candidacy. Also discussed are the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the presidential election campaign and the Bush-Obama transition, fundraising for the 2012 reelection campaign, and the placing of the Obama Foundation and Obama Presidential Center in Chicago
Penny Pritzker is an American businesswoman and public servant. In the Obama administration, she served as a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and as secretary of commerce from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Pritzker family, s he had an extensive business career prior to her government service, which included her founding of the Pritzker Realty Group, PSP Partners, PSP Capital Partners, Artemis Real Estate Partners, and Inspired Capital. She has also served on the boards of directors of several civic institutions, civil society organizations, and corporations. Pritzker became friends with Barack and Michelle Obama during the 1990s, and she was an early supporter of Obama's political campaigns, which she supported through various fundraising activities. For the 2008 presidential campaign, she served as national finance chair
Note
Interviewed by Jacqueline Stewart on November 22, 2022. This interview is part of the University of Chicago: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Penny S. Pritzker, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023