LeHand, Missy (Marguerite Alice LeHand), 1896–1944, personal secretary to Franklin Roosevelt, b. Potsdam, N.Y. She worked for Roosevelt's unsuccessful vice presidential campaign (1920) before she became (1921) his personal secretary; when he then was stricken with polio, she became his constant companion, confidante, and aide. A hostess and adviser when Roosevelt was New York governor (1929–33), she continued in that role when he became (1933) president, living in the White House and helping to bring together disparate personalities to create the New Deal. Following the death of Louis Howe (1936), she was the unofficial White House chief of staff until 1941, when a stroke left her an invalid.
See K. Smith, The Gatekeeper (2016).
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