Politics & Polls #42: Where Are All the Jobs?

May 03 2017
By B. Rose Kelly
Source Woodrow Wilson School

In his campaign promise to make America great again, President Donald Trump vowed to “bring jobs back to America” and revitalize the labor industry. Now, one hundred days into the Trump presidency, some are wondering: Where are all of those jobs?

Believers say job creation is right around the corner, while critics argue little has been done, as Trump has mostly focused on rhetoric instead of policy. In an effort to untangle such labor issues, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Christopher P. Lu '88, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor. In this episode, Lu provides an inside look at the Department of Labor as well as the Trump transition.

Lu, an alumnus of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, served as Assistant to the President and White House Cabinet Secretary for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. During that time, he also was the co-chair of the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Lu worked briefly as an advisor on Senator John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign and began working for Obama in 2005 in his U.S. Senate Office, where Lu served as legislative director and acting chief of staff. In addition to attending the Woodrow Wilson School, he also earned his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was a classmate of Obama’s.