Patti Solis Doyle: The Woman Behind Hillary Clinton
By Tara McKelvey
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Solis Doyle is a powerful figure in the campaign and has earned a fearsome reputation. She has been called a "control freak" (Chicago Tribune), "brutally competitive" (Fox News Network), and a "chief enforcer" (New York magazine). "I have to make the call," Solis Doyle says. "Sometimes I am not very popular because of that."
Popular or not, Solis Doyle has helped Clinton raise $90 million and become a leader in the race. Such success, say experts, can be attributed in part to a regimented approach, with an emphasis on loyalty that can be traced back to the early days of Bill Clinton’s bid for the presidency — the time when Solis Doyle first joined Team Clinton.
Her daily tasks vary, but the demanding schedule (18- to 20-hour days) does not. She gets up at 6 a.m., fixes breakfast ("cereal, mostly"), and then prepares for a 7:30 a.m. conference call. She tries to come home for dinner and to put her two kids to bed. From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., she reads e-mails.
Fueling Solis Doyle's drive is her deep friendship with her boss. "When my children were born, Hillary came to visit them in the hospital. When my father passed away, she called my mom at the hospital," she says. "I would take a bullet for her."
