http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/obama%E2%80%99s-man-in-ottawa/
October 9, 2009

Obama's man in Ottawa

Barack Obama's new ambassador to Canada, who has arrived in the midst of tensions over trade, energy and the border, has a reputation for embodying the "no drama" rule that was emblematic of the Obama campaign. In the course of 30 years as a corporate litigator with a single Chicago firm, David Jacobson was known for never losing his temper, not even raising his voice. "David is an extraordinarily pragmatic individual," says John Grossbart, a colleague who has been in tough spots with Jacobson on high-stakes cases. "He never loses his cool."

[...]

"One thing I learned quickly in politics is that they don't need very many people to do politics, or to write speeches, or to do research," he says. "But they need a lot of people to raise money. It's the one thing ordinary people could do."

Having just arrived in the Canadian capital, Jacobson knows he has to settle into the job and speaks only in broad strokes about what he hopes to accomplish. But the first thing everyone in Ottawa wants to know about a new U.S. ambassador is: how well does he know the president and can he get him on the phone?...

[...]

The great-grandson of poor immigrants from what is now Ukraine, Jacobson was born in Chicago and spent his early years in an apartment building on the city's North Side occupied by his grandparents, two of his grandfather's sisters, and several aunts and uncles. As he begins to tell how his mother had to carry him and the groceries up to their third-floor apartment, his wife interrupts. "You're missing the point!" Julie says. "The point is the young prince was born. There were all these old relatives and one little baby boy!" she laughs.

[...]

This week, Jacobson and his wife are planning to kick off six weeks of travel across Canada. "I want to meet as many Canadians as I can and try to understand what they really think," he says. The goal is to visit all 10 provinces by the end of November. They are starting with a trip around Quebec, then heading out to the Prairies for 10 days, followed by a visit to British Columbia before setting out to the Atlantic provinces. "I'm trying to do as much of it as I can on the ground -- by car or by train," he says, recalling a long-ago road trip from New York to Los Angeles during which he "learned more about the United States than in hundreds of times flying over it." The North may be on the agenda for next summer.

Complete article:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/09/obama%E2%80%99s-man-in-ottawa/