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| Donald Trump's campaign manager will go down in history as the first woman to ever manage a successful presidential campaign. (AP Photo/John Locher) |
Donald Trump's intrepid 49-year-old campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, will go down in history as the first woman to ever manage a successful presidential campaign.
The veteran Republican pollster and mother of four became Trump's campaign manager in late August, shortly after her predecessor, Paul Manafort, was booted from the post. Manafort had assumed the role of campaign manager following Trump's firing of Corey Lewandowski, a New Hampshire native and GOP campaign operative who ran the operation through the primary.
From the moment she was placed at the helm of Trump's campaign to the final 72 hours of the election, Conway seemed to possess an acute understanding of how to guide the blustery billionaire toward discipline and his eventual success. Toward the end of the election, Conway told reporters that she never hesitated to air her frustrations when Trump would wander off message or land himself at the center of controversy after making some outlandish remark.
Immediately after she took over the campaign, and again in the waning days of the election, Conway was credited with ensuring Trump remained exceptionally disciplined. She tethered him to a teleprompter, placed restrictions on his Twitter privileges and worked diligently to boost his appeal among women and minorities, while strengthening his existing appeal among blue collar workers and the white working class.
Conway also spent months defending her ideas and strategy against the contrasting suggestions by other senior staffers, namely Manafort (before his departure) and Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon. She prevailed more often than not.
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