The Confidantes

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Residence pulls back the curtain on the role of 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.

• “The Confidantes is a truly unique history of the women in the West Wing who sit closest to the president. As Kate did in The Residence, she takes us inside the Oval Office for the defining moments of American history, from the earliest days of World War II to September 11 to Inauguration Day 2017. We see these monumental moments unfold through the eyes of the president's right-hand woman - the gatekeeper who sees everything. These are the real White House insiders.”
   
  Dana Bash, New York Times bestselling author of America's Deadliest Election, host of CNN's Inside Politics and co-host of State of the Union
• “The Confidantes is a deeply researched and vividly written group portrait of the undervalued women who have nobly served as secretaries to U.S. presidents.  Every page is a revelation. Highly recommended!” 
  Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University and author of Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America
• “Every page of The Confidantes left me astonished: these women have been hiding in the historical record for so long. Kate Andersen Brower has uncovered one of the great untold stories of the American presidency—and once you know it, you cannot unknow it."
  Norah O’Donnell, 60 Minutes Correspondent and bestselling author of We the Women