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Patti
Solis Doyle
The First Latina to Lead
a Presidential Campaign
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Who says women cannot
take charge? Up until
recently, the image of
who runs a presidential
campaign is that of a
male figure, not a woman.
Now, it’s a different
story, for times have
changed and the
spotlight is on Patti
Solis Doyle, the first
Hispanic woman to lead a
presidential campaign in
the United States.
Today, Doyle, 42, can be
seen in her petite dark
blue dress sitting at
her Virginia office as
she manages Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s
presidential effort,
thus becoming a role
model for Latinas,
especially one who has
broken the gender
barrier in a male-dominated
field.
As
campaign manager, she
oversees more than 200
people and millions of
cash for the campaign,
but more important,
Doyle works hard to help
elect the first woman to
run for president in the
U.S. A close advisor to
Clinton for almost 16
years, Doyle’s
accomplishments are due
to hard work, dedication,
and a strong support
system, and it commenced
with her parents’
initiative in arriving
to the U.S.
Her parents, both
Mexican immigrants
arrived to the United
States more than 50
years ago. Her father,
Santiago Solis, now
deceased, got deported
twice but the third time
“was his chance.” “He
made enough money to
bring my mother and then
by that time they had my
brother and my three
sisters, and they came
over again,” she says.
“My father had between
two to three jobs at a
time and my mother
worked and they raised a
family of six, and it
startled me.”
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Patti Solis Doyle
Photo by José L. Muñoz |
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Years later, her parents’
efforts and strong work
has paid off. Doyle
graduated from
Northwestern University,
worked in City Hall for
then-city treasurer
Miriam Santos, worked as
Clinton’s scheduler
during the 1992 campaign,
and later moved to New
York to assist with the
Clinton campaign where
she became Clinton’s
advisor when elected
Senator.
“She offered me the job
of running her protocol
action committee-HillPac,
known as Hillary Inc,
which I did and it was a
small organization at
the beginning and it
grew, and she grew as
Senator, then for the
democratic campaign,
then to the elections,”
she says with a smile.
“I played a role in her
re-lection and then when
she decided to run for
president, I think I was
almost a natural fit
that I would be her
campaign manager so I
decided to do it. So
here I am.”
In
the midst of all this,
Doyle thought she was
ready to retire. She had
a daughter and was ready
to spend more time with
her family, yet she
decided to not give up.
“I was pregnant when I
was working in the White
House when I took
maternity leave, I took
three months off and was
loving being a mother,”
she recalls. “I loved
spending time with my
daughter and I had
really mixed emotions
about going back to work,
and I didn’t want to
leave my daughter but I
also didn’t want to give
up my job in the White
House.”
As
Doyle presses her hands
together she recalls and
tells why having a
strong support system
matters to get things
done. “There is no way
on the planet to
understand balance in
working families more
than [Clinton] does,”
she says. “For as long
I’ve been with her,
she’s always understood
how difficult that can
be for a woman.”
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Senator Clinton with closest advisor for the past 16 years, Patti Solis Doyle |
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Patti and Senator Clinton at the White House |
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As
told by Doyle, she never
said anything in regards
to her wanted to spend
time with her family,
but as she says “She [Clinton]
could totally see it in
my face and hear it on
my voice and she took me
by the hand and said,
‘listen, we are going to
make this work. Bring
the baby in and put a
crib in the office, do
it as long as you need
to.’ And I did it for
six months, I brought my
nanny in and I was
working in the White
House.”
Today, Doyle has 2
children, 9-year-old
daughter Lee (Solis) and
5-year-old Joseph, and
is married to James
Doyle. So how does she
balance her family and
career?
“I would be lying if I
didn’t say that is very
hard,” she says “It is
very hard but I happen
to have the best husband
in the world. And truly,
that has taken on a lot
of share—our kids
schedule, soccer, he
really makes sure that
the kids don’t miss me
too much.”
Doyle has learned that
balance is key, not only
as a career woman, but
as a mother and wife. “I
try to work my schedule,”
she says. “If I am going
to work, I work here
very late and do what I
have to do and then I
try to identify at least
two or three days during
the week where I can go
home and be with my kids
and get dinner and put
them to bed.”
Her day does not end
when she arrives home,
once she puts her
children to sleep she
stays up until 2:00 a.m.
to catch up on e-mails.
On weekends, unless she
is traveling she spends
time with her family,
but still works if she
needs to. “When I’m at
the soccer game, I’m on
the blackberry, but I’m
at the soccer game,” she
says.
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“Now that we are heading
to the fall, I don’t
know how realistic
that’s going to be but I
have a good support
system and I have a boss
who really understands
when I have to leave for
a doctor’s appointment
for my kids or to a
parent teacher
conference.”
So
what has been the seed
to her success? One may
ask. Clearly many things,
commitment, hard work
and more, that including
her father’s idea of
success and her
brother’s idea of not
only working hard but
also helping people.
Currently, Doyle’s
brother—who is 16 years
her senior—Alderman
Daniel (Danny) Solis
represents the 25th Ward
of Chicago, Illinois,
and has been an
inspiration throughout
her career. “The things
that were important to
my father are the same
that are important to
our community such as
health care, education
for kids, good jobs,
good pay,” she says. “He
really tries to do what
he could to get those
opportunities to his
community and I learned
from him and here we are
committed to public
service.”
Not only is he proud of
Patti’s success but not
surprise to where she
stands. He describes his
sister as a smart,
passionate, beautiful
and talented woman.
“Patti is a woman,
mother, daughter, wife
and a Latina,” he says.
“Patti knows who she is,
where she came from, our
parents were immigrants,
and they were working
class people. I think
once Hillary gets into
the White House, Patti
is going to be very
influential in advising
the first lady about our
community.”
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At
work, her organizational
abilities, focus and
loyalty have certainly
been and asset. Her
aptitude has led her to
many accomplishments,
and one of those was
recently recognized at
the 22nd National
Hispanic Women’s
Conference on September
13 in Phoenix, AZ. where
she was awarded the
“Latina Leadership
Excellence Award,”
certainly not a surprise
to her brother.
With elections around
the corner, Doyle
continues to work hard
on the campaign and
encourages Latinas to
get involve in the
political arena. Though
she is aware of the
challenge for the 2008
elections—an African
American, Senator Obama,
a Hispanic, Governor
Richardson, and a woman,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
running for president—she
feels proud of her
stance. “I believe that
Hillary Clinton will be
the next president of
the United States. I am
proud of the work of the
campaign, nothing is a
case loss and we take
nothing for granted,”
she says. “I am the
first Hispanic woman to
run a presidential
campaign which I am
extremely proud of. It
is a cut throat field
but I can do a good job
and work hard as my
father taught me.”
By Gloria Romano
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