A timeline of Rahm Emanuel's tenure as Mayor of Chicago
Rahm Emanuel, Chicago's 44th mayor, announced Tuesday he would not seek re-election for a third-term in 2019. Here's a look at his time as mayor of the city, during which time he was criticized for his role in the Laquan McDonald shooting video release, sparred with the teachers union and pushed to protect the status of undocumented residents and Chicago's role as a sanctuary city.
Oct. 1, 2010
Emanuel resigns as President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff.
Prior to this time, Emanuel made his mark on local and national politics. He ran fundraising for Richard M. Daley's first successful mayoral campaign in 1989. Later, he joined the Bill Clinton White House after serving on his 1992 presidential campaign. After a stint working in investment banking, Emanuel was elected to the U.S. House in 2002 and would serve there until January 2009.
President Barack Obama walks with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel down the Colonnade returning to the Oval Office, June 16, 2009. | Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Nov. 13, 2010
Emanuel officially announces bid to replace Mayor Richard M. Daley, who said he would not run for a seventh term in 2011.
Rahm Emanuel declares his bid to become mayor of the City of Chicago at the Coonley Elementary School. | Brian Jackson/Sun-Times
Jan. 27, 2011
After a legal challenge that Emanuel's time in Washington, D.C., made him ineligible to run because he didn't live in Chicago, the Illinois Supreme Court rules that he may appear on the ballot in the February election.
Feb. 22. 2011
Emanuel wins his first term as Chicago mayor with 55 percent of the vote. He defeats a crowded field featuring Gery Chico, Daley's former chief of staff, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and City Clerk Miguel del Valle.
Rahm Emanuel after learning he won his first term as Chicago's mayor. | Kilchiro Sato/AP
April 24, 2012
The City Council approves the mayor's plan for the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, a nonprofit corporation teaming up the city with private companies for big projects. The initiative brought cellphone signals to the CTA's tunnels as well as a plan to retrofit the city's streetlights. It was also a part of future plans to bring a new police training facility to the city's West Side and create a high-speed alternative to travel between O'Hare and the Loop.
Sept. 10-18, 2012
The Chicago Teachers Union goes on strike over health insurance, evaluations and raises. The strike lasts seven school days.
A scene from the 2012 teachers strike | Scott Olson/Getty Images
May 22, 2013
The Chicago Board of Education moves forward with plans to close 49 elementary schools and one high school program.
Chicago police escort an arrested protestors after they blocked entrances to elevators on the first floor of City Hall, May 20, 2013, while protesting the potential closure of dozens of Chicago Public Schools. | Jessica Koscielniak/Sun-Times
Feb. 24, 2015
Emanuel faces a runoff election and doesn't secure a second term winning 45.6 percent of the vote in the general election. (He needed 50 percent to win outright.) He would face Cook County Board Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia in a runoff in April.
Rahm Emanuel spoke to a crowd after failing to secure a second term on Feb. 24, 2015. | Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
April 7, 2015
Emanuel wins his second mayoral term by defeating Garcia in the citywide runoff. Emanuel won 55.7 percent of the vote, with most of his vote concentrated on the North and Northwest sides as well as predominantly African-American wards.
Emanuel shakes hands and takes photos with commuters at the 95th Street Red Line Station a day after winning re-election. | Brian Jackson/Sun-Times
May 23, 2015
The first stretch of the $100 million extension of the Chicago Riverwalk opens. Tourism and downtown development has been a centerpiece of Emanuel's tenure.
Emanuel tours the Chicago Riverwalk in 2015 before it is officially unveiled to the public | Rich Hein/Sun-Times
Nov. 24, 2015
The city releases the dashcam video showing a Chicago police officer fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. The incident, which occurred in October 2014, started a scandal for Emanuel, who activists say was part of a cover-up to hide the video. Earlier in the week, a judge ordered the release of the video. Earlier on this day, Van Dyke was charged in McDonald's murder.
December 1, 2015
In the wake of the Van Dyke video release, Emanuel fires Garry McCarthy, Chicago's top cop. "Now is the time for fresh eyes and new leadership to confront the challenges the department and our community and our city are facing as we go forward." John Escalante was named the interim superintendent as the city's Police Board began the formal process to find a replacement.
Emanuel announcing that Garry McCarthy would no longer be Chicago's top cop. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
March 27, 2016
Emanuel rejects the Police Board's three nominees for police superintendent and names chief of patrol Eddie Johnson to the post.
Eddie Johnson speaks after being named Chicago's top cop in March 2016. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Sept. 19, 2016
Emanuel holds a news conference touting Chicago being named best bike city in the United States by Bicycling Magazine. During Emanuel's tenure, Chicago grew its bike lane network to over 200 miles and started the Divvy bike-share program in 2013.
Divvy celebrated its fifth anniversary in June. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times
Dec. 7, 2016
Emanuel visits President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, urging him to support "Dreamers," children of undocumented residents who came to the United States when he was young. Emanuel and the city would later play a major role in lawsuits filed against the Trump administration and its policies that sought to deny "sanctuary cities" like Chicago federal funds if they continued policies protecting undocumented residents.
July 3, 2017
The mayor announces plans to build a $95 million police and fire training academy on the West Side. Despite criticism from activists organized around the hashtag #NoCopAcademy, the plan passes in the City Council in May 2018.
An artist's rendering of the city of Chicago's planned public safety training campus in West Garfield Park, to replace the city's police and fire training academies. | City Hall
June 13, 2018
Emanuel chooses Elon Musk's Boring Co. to build a high-speed electric vehicle that would connect downtown directly with O'Hare. Emanuel said the O’Hare express project is “about Chicago’s future. It has nothing to do with mine.” The project was approved with the expectation that Musk's company pay for everything.
Elon Musk and Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday addressed plans for a high-speed underground transportation system that would link downtown Chicago to O'Hare International Airport in 12 minutes. | Erin Brown/Sun-Times
Sept. 4, 2018
Emanuel announces he would not seek a third term as mayor saying “this has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime."
