President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign manager is now the first woman to lead a winning presidential campaign in the United States.
Kellyanne Conway moved up from Trump’s senior adviser and pollster to campaign manager in mid-August. With more than 20 years of polling and research experience, Conway worked for congressional candidates and, more recently, as president of the Keep the Promise I, a PAC that advocated for former GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz.
The mother of four young children, Conway was Trump’s third campaign manager, and the first woman ever to run the campaign of a GOP presidential nominee.
“I wasn’t hired because of my gender. But it’s a special responsibility,” Conway told CNN. “I want to do right, apart from my gender — I want to do right as a campaign manager.”
The Trump campaign was “very confident” about the election, Conway said on NBC after Trump’s victory.
“[Trump] is a problem-solver. He’s a builder,” she continued. “When you are a businessman, you are accountable. You can’t run your business with $19 trillion worth of debt like the federal government does somehow.”
Conway said Trump will be working fast to accomplish his goals with a Republican-controlled House and Senate to join him in his efforts.
“It’s quite a mandate,” she said, adding that if asked to serve in the Trump administration, she will do so “in whatever capacity I’m asked, where I feel like I can be most helpful.”