Nicholas Rathod is U.S. President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

's Associate Director for Intergovernmental Affairs in the Office of the President, serving directly under Cecilia Muñoz

Cecilia Muñoz

Cecilia Muñoz has served as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House since January 21, 2009. A longtime civil rights advocate, she worked as Senior Vice President for the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza , a nonprofit organization...

, the Director for Intergovernmental Affairs.

Immediately prior to his White House appointment, Rathod served as Director for Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama/Biden Transition team. As such, he represented, and spoke on behalf of the President-elect, at the inauguration of Governor of Puerto Rico

Governor of Puerto Rico

The Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...

  Luis Fortuño

Luis Fortuño

Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...

, who although a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, heads a bipartisan administration that includes two notable Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, Resident Commissioner

Resident Commissioner

Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...

 Pedro Pierluisi

Pedro Pierluisi

Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Democratic Party...

 and Kenneth McClintock

Kenneth McClintock

Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...

, who was appointed by Fortuño as Secretary of State

Secretary of State

Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....

, and first in the line of succession.

A DC-based community organizer, he has been active in co-founding two organizations, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), and, during the 2008 presidential campaign, South Asians for Obama (SAFO). He has also served as the Political Director for former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...

 and as Senior Manager of State and Regional Relations at the Center for American Progress

Center for American Progress

The Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...

, founded by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

's Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff

The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...

, John Podesta

John Podesta

John David Podesta was the fourth and final White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton, from 1998 until 2001. He is the president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., and is also a Visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law...

.

An Indian-American civil rights attorney, Rathod obtained his bachelors degree at Nebraska Wesleyan University, and is the son of Rev. Sam Rathod, and his wife Ella.