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| | |  | About the BookOther FormatsProduct Images The first biography of arguably the most influential member of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration, Marguerite “Missy” LeHand, FDR’s de facto chief of staff, who has been misrepresented, mischaracterized, and overlooked throughout history…until now.
Widely considered the first female presidential chief of staff, Marguerite “Missy” LeHand was the right-hand woman to Franklin Delano Roosevelt—both personally and professionally—for more than twenty years. Although her official title as personal secretary was relatively humble, her power and influence were unparalleled. Everyone in the White House knew one truth: If you wanted access to Franklin, you had to get through Missy. She was one of his most trusted advisors, affording her a unique perspective on the president that no one else could claim, and she was deeply admired and respected by Eleanor and the Roosevelt children.
With unprecedented access to Missy’s family and original source materials, journalist Kathryn Smith tells the captivating and forgotten story of the intelligent, loyal, and clever woman who had a front-row seat to history in the making. The Gatekeeper is a thoughtful, revealing unsung-hero story about a woman ahead of her time, the true weight of her responsibility, and the tumultuous era in which she lived—and a long overdue tribute to one of the most important female figures in American history.
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| Kathryn Smith is a journalist and writer with a passionate interest in American history. She has lived all her life in Georgia and South Carolina, and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. After a seventeen-year career in daily newspaper reporting and editing, Kathryn spent another seventeen years in nonprofit management before returning to her first love of writing. The Gatekeeper was her first nationally published book and has led to hundreds of speaking engagements, during which she often impersonates Missy LeHand. She has since written another biography, two books about Prohibition in the South, and coauthored a mystery series featuring Missy LeHand as an amateur detective, sort of the Nancy Drew of the New Deal. She lives in Anderson, South Carolina, with her husband, Leo, and frequently visits her six grandchildren.
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| "[A] fine biography....Ms. Smith has filled a small gap in Roosevelt historiography with this compelling personal story."
— The Wall Street Journal
"Highly readable....Smith's biography represents her subject perfectly."
— Washington Post
“Kathryn Smith’s The Gatekeeper offers a contrasting glimpse of Roosevelt, a personal view of the man’s humanity rather than his geopolitical prowess...it is quite successful in cracking the emotional steel shell the president constructed around himself.”
— The Buffalo News
Kathryn Smith’s The Gatekeeper is a vivid, much-needed life of one of the least-known but most consequential figures in FDR’s immediate circle, Missy LeHand. Anyone interested in Roosevelt, the New Deal or the path toward global war will want to snap it up.
— Geoffrey C. Ward, author of A First Class Temperament: The Emergence of FDR
“For too long historians and the public have remained unaware of Marguerite “Missy” LeHand’s key importance role in the personal and political life of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Kathryn Smith has uncovered new evidence showing how FDR’s constant companion for twenty years helped him overcome polio, win the presidency, and lead the nation. This is a book for Roosevelt scholars, fans of FDR, and lovers of history.”
— Frank Costigliola, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, University of Connecticut
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