With President-elect Donald Trump's appointment as chief of staff, Susie Wiles moves from a generally behind-the-scenes role as co-chair of the election campaign to one of the most important posts in a new White House administration.
When she takes office in January, the 67-year-old will become the first woman to serve as chief of staff to a US president.
While making the announcement Thursday, President-elect Trump said Ms. Wiles is "strong, smart, innovative, and admired and respected around the world."
"It is a well-deserved honor to have Susie as the first female chief of staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud," President-elect Donald Trump said in his statement.
Ms. Wiles generally avoided publicity while co-chairing the successful election campaign. Along with fellow co-host Chris LaCivita, she was credited with giving a more disciplined form to Mr. Trump's more spontaneous style during campaign events.
She did not speak during Mr Trump's election victory celebration on Wednesday, when he called her to the podium and she refused to take the microphone.
Ms. Wiles rarely gives television interviews and tends to avoid the spotlight, a contrast to Mr. LaCivita, who is known to be outspoken.
She is not very popular in political circles. During his victory speech, Mr Trump referred to Ms Wiles as the "ice girl".
She is one of President-elect Trump's most trusted advisers. During a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, he said: “She's incredible. Unbelievable."
The lead pollster for the Trump campaign, Tony Fabrizio, told Politico in April that, “There's nobody, I think, that has the wealth of information that she has. No one in our orbit. No one".
While Ms. Wiles is somewhat of an enigmatic figure, she has a long career working behind the scenes of American politics.
Shortly after graduating from the University of Maryland in 1979, she went to work for New York legislator Jack Kemp and joined the electoral team of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign.
She eventually moved to Florida, where she advised two mayoral campaigns and helped then-entrepreneur Rick Scott break into politics with his successful 2010 campaign for governor.
She managed the campaign of Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. in 2012, and managed the Florida branch for Mr. Trump's campaign in 2016. She joined Ron DeSantis' race for governor in 2018 but left after a dispute in 2019.
Ms. Wiles made a rare appearance on social media shortly before Mr. DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January. "Goodbye, goodbye," she wrote.
She then ran former President Trump's primary campaign against Governor DeSantis, which Mr. Trump easily won.
Ms. Wiles is the only campaign manager to survive an entire campaign by Mr. Trump and is known for her ability to curb spontaneous or unpredictable instincts.
According to The Associated Press news agency, during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania, when Mr. Trump broke away from his speech on paper to quip that he wouldn't mind if members of the media were shot, she appeared to glare at him. in silence, until he returned to his planned speech.
This skill should serve her well in her new role. In his last four years in office, former President Trump changed four chiefs of staff, a record for modern presidents./ VOA