By Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican President-elect Donald Trump named campaign chief Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff on Thursday.
It was his first appointment since winning Tuesday’s election against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Here are some key facts about Wiles, who is set to run day-to-day operations at the White House:
DISCIPLINED OPERATION
Wiles, a longtime Republican strategist, is widely credited – along with co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita – with running the most disciplined and sophisticated of Trump’s three presidential campaigns.
She did not always succeed at stopping Trump from going off-script, but she kept damaging media leaks to a relative minimum, launched a bold and successful strategy to win over some Latino and Black voters and led the former president to a decisive win.
PARTY ESTABLISHMENT
Wiles got her start working for Republican President Ronald Reagan’s successful 1980 campaign. For years, she worked with some moderate Republicans who promoted dramatically different policies than those of Trump.
Early in her career, she worked for Republican U.S. representatives Jack Kemp, an ardent advocate of free trade, and Tillie Fowler, who was widely considered a moderate on several issues, including gun control.
She also served briefly as the manager of former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.’s 2012 presidential campaign. Huntsman was arguably the most moderate Republican in the field that year. He sharply criticized Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters.
WORKING FOR THE ENEMY
Later in her career, Wiles started working for more combative party figures, some of whom would become Trump allies, including U.S. Senator Rick Scott of Florida.
Notably, she was a key figure in Ron DeSantis’ successful 2018 Florida gubernatorial campaign. She was dismissed by DeSantis after he took office.
When Trump and DeSantis squared off in the Republican presidential primary, she presided over an aggressive and successful strategy to portray her old boss as personally off-putting and out of touch on some key policy issues.
“ICE MAIDEN”
While Wiles is personally friendly, she is relatively little-known and enigmatic for a political strategist of her stature. She rarely gives televised interviews and avoids speaking engagements. Like many successful campaign managers, she can be ruthless when merited.
Her personality contrasted with that of LaCivita, who was notably garrulous and outspoken.
During his victory speech, Trump referred to Wiles as the “ice maiden.”
PROMINENT FAMILY
Wiles is the daughter of Pat Summerall, who was a prominent football player and sportscaster. Summerall played in the National Football League for a decade and later announced 16 Super Bowls. He died in 2013.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Michael Perry)
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