Valerie Jarrett, Desirée Rogers and Susan Rice Strike a Pose

As well as the article below, I also discovered this article in the current issue of Washington, D.C.'s Capitol File magazine. Valerie Jarrett is President Obama's senior advisor (I'm sure you saw photos of her all over the country during the campaign) and Desirée Rogers is of course the White House's Social Secretary. Click here for full interview and more pics.

Below is Susan Rice. The current, and third youngest ever, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Rice is featured in the June 2009 issue of Vogue. You can click here for the full interview and more pics, but below is just a snippet. I don't know about you but I love reading about all these successful women, including Michelle Obama!

At 44, Rice is, in fact, the second-youngest U.S. ambassador to the United Nations since its inception in 1945. (Donald McHenry, appointed in 1979 by Jimmy Carter, was a hair younger.) But Rice is used to being the youngest person at the table. As someone who went to high school with her puts it, "She was always highly respected by adults and seen as a future force to be reckoned with." A Rhodes scholar who earned a doctorate in international relations at Oxford University, Rice joined President Clinton's National Security Council staff in 1993, at the tender age of 28. Within a few years she catapulted over several more senior staffers to become, at 32, the youngest-ever assistant secretary of State. Her accelerated résumé notwithstanding, she seems to be at the beginning of the public phase of what may very well turn out to be one of the more substantial careers in politics.

Desirée Rogers Covers Wall Street Journal Magazine

Desirée Rogers, the White House Social Secretary, covers the latest issue of Wall Street Journal Magazine. For those who don't know, she organizes all the social events at the White House - what an amazing job! She's an old time friend of the Obamas and has had some pretty high profile jobs prior to this one including Chief Marketing Officer for Peoples Energy (now Integrys Energy Group); President of both Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas; and she serves on several Boards. Click here to read the full interview and see photos from her first 100 days at the White House.

Desirée Glapion Rogers is the descendant of a Creole voodoo priestess named Marie Laveau Glapion. The first time I meet her, she welcomes me into her East Wing lair—a rhythm and blues tune plays on a white iPod, a potted white orchid perches between two windows, fresh flowers sit on a heavy wooden desk. This is a woman who never sees a wilted bloom. The 49-year-old turns on just enough Southern charm to camouflage an aura of self-assuredness typically reserved for runway models or first ladies. Wearing a crisp white shirt, black patent flats and high-waisted navy slacks that would look terrible on almost anyone else, Rogers talks about her job as White House social secretary.

If there’s one thing Desirée Rogers and Desirée Rogers’ staff want you to know—and will keep reminding you until you get it—it’s that the president and Michelle Obama plan to open up the White House and once again make it the “people’s house.” They want to create an environment where average Americans might stop by and catch the first lady serving homemade huckleberry cobbler and caramel ice cream to students, tending to the vegetable garden on the South Lawn or watching the romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You” with her girlfriends. The president is, of course, meeting with foreign dignitaries. In one of the most visible roles in the Obama administration, Rogers is out to solidify the first family as one of the most memorable in presidential history, and the Ivy League–educated first lady, in particular, as the most popular mom-in-chief. [Read more]

Above: Rogers works down the hall from Michelle Obama, her friend of nearly 20 years, in the East Wing.

Now it's Obama's Turn... What shall he wear to his Inauguration?

Richard James Savile Row look for evening

Sean John look for evening

Salvatore Ferragamo look for day

Nautica look for evening

A Tommy Hilfiger look for day

A Countess Mara tie

With all the focus on what Michelle wore or should wear, both during the campaign and her anticipated outfit for the inauguration, we can be forgiven for forgetting what the President-elect should wear. Luckily some of the world's most adored menswear designer are on the ball. WWD.com has exclusive sketches from designers ranging from Salvatore Ferragamo to Sean John. See the slideshoe below for all the sketches of day and evening looks plus some snazzy ties. My picks are above.

I Like HIS Style!

Ebony Magazine is giving thanks to all those brothas that know how to make us swoon. Effortlessly swagger is innate. It cannot made. And if you don't believe me take a look the four men pictured (four other covers are avialable). Each one has made a mark in our community and the world, for not only being talented, but for being an unapologetic individual. Be sure to grab a copy, or two, this coming Tuesday:

For the first time ever, Ebony magazine presents not one, not two, but eight quintessential covers to celebrate the 25 coolest Black men of all time. Jay-Z, Barack Obama, Prince, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Marvin Gaye, Muhammad Ali and Billy Dee Williams take center stage as they personify Black cool on the covers of this historic collector’s edition. From their sleek, debonair styles to their smooth-as-silk personas, these magnificent Black men have conveyed, captured, and conquered the quintessence of cool while making it appear effortless.

Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge the photos...