A Conversation with Ambassador Rahm Emanuel
Ambassador Rahm Emanuel and Upstate leader Billy Webster will engage in a conversation about the public policy issues shaping the national conversation ahead of the midterm elections. Together, they will explore what voters are weighing, where common ground may still be possible, and what must be done across partisan lines to advance the public good.
With thanks to our co-sponsors: Furman’s Department of Politics and International Affairs, Department of Communication Studies, and On Discourse Initiative
Event Details
- October 14, 2026
- 6-7 p.m.
- Watkins Room, Trone Student Center
This event is free for Furman students, staff, and faculty. It is open to the general public, but registration is requested.
Meet Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel is an American politician and diplomat who most recently served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2022-2025. Emanuel previously served as chief of staff to President Barack Obama from 2009-2010. In this role, he helped the administration secure the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In 2011, Emanuel was elected the 55th mayor of Chicago and held the position for eight years. As mayor, he implemented universal pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten for children in Chicago and made it the first city in America to provide free community college. Emanuel was elected four times as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois’s 5th Congressional District between 2002-2008. He also served in President Bill Clinton’s administration from 1993-1998, rising to the role of senior advisor to the president for policy and politics. Emanuel graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 and received a master’s degree in speech and communication from Northwestern University in 1985.
Meet Billy Webster
Billy Webster is a Greenville native and businessman. Webster has a notable background in federal government, having served at the White House under both a Republican and a Democratic president. He was a White House fellow under President George H.W. Bush in 1992, then served as chief of staff to former S.C. Governor Dick Riley during Riley’s tenure as President Bill Clinton’s U.S. secretary of education, and later ran scheduling and advance for President Clinton.