Betty Currie
| Betty Currie | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal Secretary to the President | |
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In office January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 |
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| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Patty Presock |
| Succeeded by | Ashley Estes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Betty Grace Williams November 10, 1939 Edwards, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Bob Currie |
| Residence | Maryland, U.S. |
Betty Currie (born Betty Grace Williams; November 10, 1939) is the former personal secretary for Bill Clinton (during his tenure as President of the United States). She became well known as a figure in the Lewinsky scandal for her alleged handling of gifts given to Monica Lewinsky by President Clinton.
Currie was born in Edwards, Mississippi and moved to Waukegan, Illinois as a child. After leaving high school, she worked in the clerical field at the Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois. She later moved to Washington, DC and worked at the Navy Department, the Postal Service, US Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Currie's rise in the government bureaucracy began when Joseph Blatchford became Peace Corps Director in 1969 and needed a new secretary. "The job was a crucial one. It had 10,000 people spread out over 68 countries, and I needed a reliable, efficient person," he says. "I didn't ask if she was a Republican or Democrat. I wasn't interested because she was so good." Currie stayed with Blatchford when he moved to ACTION, the federal agency that ran the Peace Corps, and she stayed there through three directors, Blatchford, Balzano, and Brown, building her own network among the people who sit just outside the big corner offices. Her association with the Peace Corps has continued with her appointment to the Board of Directors of the National Peace Corps Association in 2006.
After initially retiring from government service, she met John D. Podesta who encouraged her to return in 1984 to run offices for the Mondale and then again for the 1988 Dukakis Presidential campaigns and later join the Clinton campaign where she worked with James Carville in the famous "War Room" in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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