Huma Abedin

Meeting Hillary

In 1996, Abedin accepted an internship with then First Lady Clinton, though she had been hoping for a placement in the White House press office. At the time, Abedin dreamed of becoming the next Christiane Amanpour, the CNN war correspondent. Once Abedin met Clinton in Arkansas, all traces of disappointment disappeared. Clinton, she told Vogue, was "irresistible."

A few months later, Abedin was hired as a staff assistant to First Lady Chief of Staff Maggie Williams. She also served as the backup to Clinton's personal aide until 2000, when she took over as full time 'body person.' In that position, Abedin acted as a catchall traveling assistant, guiding Clinton from event to event and ensuring that her public schedule moved smoothly. "The job is a notoriously grueling one, requiring unfaltering level-headedness and a zeal for multitasking," wrote Spencer Morgan in the New York Observer. "These folks are constantly on the move, juggling 20 different chores, and they consequently often appear slightly disheveled."

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But Abedin quickly became mythical for her polished look.

She almost always wore heels (even while walking in parades), perfectly-pressed suits and blown-out hair. Friends gush that they've never seen her in the same outfit twice, and political analyst James Carville said Abedin "takes your breath away." Clinton press aide Phillippe Reines said women and men alike pay attention to Abedin's style choices. One day, he said, all the men in the office removed their belts to wear around their shirts, mimicking (and gently mocking) a style Abedin had worn the day before.

During Clinton's 2008 presidential race, Abedin worked as traveling chief of staff. She attended dozens of events around the country and monitored Clinton's daily schedule, which would often run for pages. "I'm not sure Hillary could walk out the door without Huma," Clinton adviser Mandy Grunwald told Vogue in July 2007. "If the air-conditioning is too cold, Huma is there with the shawl. She's always thinking three steps ahead of Hillary."

In the Obama administration, Abedin is senior adviser to the secretary of state. Though her role is not exactly clear, her early days were pretty similar to her work on Clinton's 2008 campaign. On Clinton's first trip abroad to Asia, Abedin was at her side and she "silently will hand Clinton a glass of water when her voice rasps during a briefing," according to a February 2009 Washington Post article.

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