WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump named Susie Wiles, his victorious campaign manager, as White House chief of staff, the first woman to hold the influential role.

Wiles is widely recognized inside and outside Trump’s inner circle for running what was by far his most disciplined and well-executed campaign and was seen as the front-runner for the position. She has largely avoided the spotlight, even refusing to take the microphone to speak as Trump celebrated his victory early Wednesday morning.

Wiles’ hiring is Trump’s first major decision as president-elect, and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration as he must quickly build the team to help run the massive federal government. Wiles brings no government experience to the role, but has a close relationship with the president-elect.

She was able to do what few others have been able to: help control Trump’s impulses—not by berating him or lecturing him, but by earning his respect and showing him that he was better off taking his advice rather than violate it.

“Susie is tough, smart, innovative and universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement. “It is a well-deserved honor to have Susie as the first female chief of staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will our proud country.”

Trump went through four chiefs of staff — including one who served as acting for a year — during his first administration, part of a record number of staff in his administration.

Successful chiefs of staff serve as the president’s confidant, help execute the president’s agenda, and balance competing political and policy priorities. They also tend to serve as a gatekeeper, helping to determine who the president spends time with and who he talks to — an effort Trump has challenged inside the White House.

The chief of staff is “absolutely critical to an effective White House,” said Chris Whipple, whose book “The Gatekeepers” details how the role of the White House chief of staff shapes and defines a presidency. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is to tell the president what he doesn’t want to hear.”

“On the positive side, she’s shown that she can handle Trump, that she can work with him and that she can sometimes tell him hard truths, and that’s very important,” Whipple said. “On the downside, she really has no White House experience and hasn’t worked in Washington in 40 years, and that’s a real disadvantage.

Wiles is a longtime Florida Republican strategist who managed Trump’s campaigns in the state in 2016 and 2020. Before that, she managed Rick Scott’s 2010 Florida gubernatorial campaign and was briefly the presidential campaign manager in 2012 by former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman.

Chris LaCivita, who along with Wiles served as co-manager of the campaign, posted on X, “So happy and proud of one of the most fierce and loyal warriors I’ve had the pleasure of working with!!!”

Trump often referred to Wiles on the campaign trail, publicly praising her leadership for what he said was often told was his “best-run campaign.”

“She’s incredible. Unbelievable,” he said at a rally in Milwaukee earlier this month,

At a rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump made one of his last appearances before the election, he launched into a profane and conspiracy-laden speech. Wiles was seen standing offstage and appearing to watch him.

Later, at a rally in Pittsburgh, Trump appeared to acknowledge his adviser’s efforts to keep him on message.

After complaining that men are no longer allowed to call a woman “beautiful,” he asked if he could erase that word from the record. “I’m allowed to do that, aren’t I, Susan Wiles?” he thought.