Podesta, 59, accepted the job as Clinton's chief of staff just before the president's impeachment trial began. Clinton not only survived but, with Podesta's help, maintained high approval ratings. Podesta also handled controversial firings at the White House travel office, and questions about Hillary Rodham Clinton's profits from commodity trading and the family's controversial investment in property known as Whitewater.

"He doesn't need a favor," said Podesta's brother Tony, one of the top lobbyists in Washington. "Obama picked him because he'll give it to you straight. He knows a lot about policy and politics, and knows all the people you might pick to run the government."

Obama campaigned against lobbyists' influence but Podesta saw lobbyists as valuable assets because of their government experience. In his first news conference, Podesta announced that lobbyists could join the transition team if they signed a strict ethics code. They must avoid working in any field in which they lobbied in the last year. They also must pledge not to lobby the Obama administration on the same matters they focused on during the transition for a year after leaving Obama's service.

Podesta's willingness to operate under pressure doesn't mean that everything went smoothly. Podesta said President Clinton personally lied to him about Clinton's sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Podesta repeated the falsehoods, and found himself in the embarrassing position of trying to find Lewinsky a job outside the White House.

Podesta's account of Hillary Clinton as an observer in the firing of White House travel staff members was contradicted by a draft memorandum by a Clinton aide that surfaced in 1996. The memo said the then-first lady was the central figure in the dismissals.

... contd.