As she transitions to a life as a private citizen, Hillary Rodham Clinton has assembled a staff that looks similar to the one she had when she held public office.
Although the former secretary of state and United States senator spends much of her time in New York and traveling the country delivering speeches, she has a small personal office in Washington staffed with familiar faces. One aide described the office on Connecticut Avenue, near the Mayflower Hotel, as modest (“smaller than my first NYC apt.â€), with staff members doubled up in three offices, each roughly the size of a large walk-in closet.
The staff includes the longtime aide Huma Abedin, the wife of Anthony D. Weiner, who is running for mayor of New York. Ms. Abedin will serve as transition director. Lona Valmoro, who has worked with Mrs. Clinton continuously since 2003, is also part of what aides refer to as a personal or transition office.
Nicholas Merrill, who worked in communications at the State Department and on Mrs. Clinton's 2008 campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, will serve as press secretary. Dan Schwerin, who has worked for Mrs. Clinton in various capacities since 2005, serves as a policy adviser and speechwriter.
Other staff members include a person who handles correspondence (one aide said “there's a tonâ€), a researcher for Mrs. Clinton's planned book about her time as secretary of state, a personal aide, an office manager and a person in charge of handling what is a packed travel schedule.
Ted Widmer, who served as a speechwriter in President Bill Clinton's administration, is not part of the personal office, but is assisting Hillary Clinton on her book, which will be published by Simon and Schuster and is due out next summer. Mr. Schwerin and Ethan Gelber, who worked under Mrs. Clinton in the State Department, will also assist with book research.
That staff is separate from the team that Mrs. Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, are assembling within the Clinton Foundation as part of the former first lady's push into charitable causes that benefit women and girls. Those hires include Maura Pally, who previously worked at the State Department and at Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Madhuri Kommareddi, a former policy aide to President Obama.
