The Confidantes: Secrets, Scandals, and the Presidents' Personal Secretaries

Behind every modern president, from FDR to Trump, stands a woman who knows every secret, answers every call, and greets every visitor. She is the ultimate gatekeeper, stationed just feet from the Resolute Desk. To the world, she is the Personal Secretary. To the Commander in Chief, she is a confidante, a crisis manager, and the last line of defense.

In The Confidantes, Kate Andersen Brower reveals the women who manage the men who run the world: from Missy LeHand, who acted as FDR’s de facto Chief of Staff; to Betty Currie, who found herself at the center of the Lewinsky scandal; to Madeleine Westerhout, whose proximity to the Trump family ended in a high-profile fall from grace.

These are the unsung women who survived the pressure cooker of the Oval Office—and who have rarely been given the chance to tell their own stories. Witnessing the presidency anew through their eyes, Brower introduces us to a cast of fascinating characters, proving that while their names rarely make the history books, the history books couldn’t be written without them.