Valerie Jarrett
Obama's closest aide is Shirazi
Jarrett is a member of African-American and Chicago royalty. But her story and her life begin in the Middle East, not the Midwest. She was born in 1956 in Shiraz, Iran, about 570 miles south of Tehran.
Her parents moved to Shiraz, known for its poets, wine and flowers, as part of a program that sent American doctors and agricultural experts to developing countries to help jump-start their health and farming efforts.
Her father was on the staff of the brand new Nemazee Hospital, where Jarrett was born.
"Every memory from Iran is a very happy memory," Jarrett told me in an e-mail/
Video: (Jarrett) Obama's Other Half
