Meet Maggie Williams, Hillary Clinton's New Campaign Manager

[rodeodance]

Forum Name General Discussion: Primaries
Topic subject Meet Maggie Williams, Hillary Clinton's New Campaign Manager
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4528912#4528912
4528912, Meet Maggie Williams, Hillary Clinton's New Campaign Manager
Posted by bigtree on Sun Feb-10-08 07:27 PM



Born and reared in Kansas City, MO, Williams graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College in Washington in 1977 and received a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communications. She has worked for the Children's Defense Fund and once served as press secretary for Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ).

As the first Black woman to direct the operations of the first lady in the White House, Maggie Williams quickly found herself smack in the middle of the republican war on the Clintons.

from Ruth Marcus' 1994 article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/08/AR2008010803378_pf.html

"I had been saying to anyone who would listen that I believed Whitewater was a distraction from the president's agenda, and I did not understand how 17 years of Arkansas history was related to feeding people, clothing people, giving people health care," Williams said. "I was outspoken; I said that; I said it over and over."

In a White House with a different and more powerful First Lady, Williams (was) a different and more powerful chief of staff. She (held) the title of assistant to the president -- on a par with other senior staffers and, in the title-conscious White House, a significant notch higher than her predecessors in the job.

"Her job is huge," said one official, pointing to Williams's three-part role as a major player on health reform, administrator of the First Lady's staff and overseer of White House social functions. "No First Lady's chief of staff has ever had this kind of job."

While a sizable share of Williams's power derives from the importance of her boss, she also plays a wider role than the specific issues facing the First Lady because of what numerous White House officials describe(d) as her overall good judgment, particularly on communications issues.

Williams, at then-White House Chief of Staff Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty's direction, was the principal author earlier (that) summer of a major memorandum on White House reorganization. McLarty said he and his successor as chief of staff, Leon E. Panetta, (had) asked Williams to prepare periodic reviews of the 30-, 60- and 90-day outlooks for the White House.

"The best way to describe her is her title," said communications director Mark Gearan. "She is both assistant to the president and chief of staff to the First Lady."