“He is a chess player in a town with a lot of checker players,” said David Plouffe, who managed the Obama campaign and remains a close confidant of the president.

"He is a chess player in a town with a lot of checker players," said David Plouffe, who managed the Obama campaign and remains a close confidant of the president. "He's got a unique metabolism. He's very calm, and he takes the long view of things."