Who Is Betty Currie?

WASHINGTON (Feb. 6) -- President Bill Clinton's private secretary, Betty Currie, is known as a quiet gentle soul. A woman of integrity and honesty, say friends.

Currie's friend Paul Costello said, " I don't think Betty Currie would lie for her mother, no less her boss. I don't think Betty Currie would lie for anyone."

Currie was a civil servant, before coming out of retirement to work for several Democratic political campaigns. She had a cameo role in the documentary "The War Room" as a volunteer for then-candidate Clinton in Little Rock, Ark. A headquarters workers, not a strategist, she was later recommended as a secretary.

"She's not an ideologue, she's not a partisan in the type of sense that other White House staff are partisan," Costello said.

Those who know her describe her as unpretentious and a regular at the Community United Methodist Church. "I knew she worked for the government, and, but ... Betty is very quiet. She doesn't go around telling people what she does," said Currie's neighbor, Beverly Horn.

Neighbors like Horn have known the Curries for years, yet until Currie appeared on television in a crush of cameras, to them she was Betty Currie, secretary.

Mail carrier Stanley Wilson said, "One day I was watching the news and the name came up -- Betty Currie -- I said O.K., she lives on my road, and she's a secretary. It was just shocking to me to find out that she was the president's secretary."

White House aides say if Currie says it's so, or it isn't so, believe it.

White House Adviser Paul Begala said, "I've known Betty Currie for a long time. I just adore her, I love her, and she would never, never mislead you. And her attorney is saying there's no unethical, no improper behavior here. I think that's the real news here."

To her friends, Betty Currie is an unlikely person to be caught in the center of such a political storm. Yet her position gave her unique access to the president. As a leader, as a person, to many that means she is a woman with some answers.

Friday February 6, 1998

• Clinton Says He'll Never Consider Resigning
• With Grand Jury News Leaking, Is Starr's Office Out Of Control?
• Clinton's 'Hunker-Down' Strategy Holds
• White House Scandal At A Glance
• Romer Acknowledges Extramarital Relationship

Poll:
• Military Force Should Be Used In Iraq

Profile:
• Who Is Betty Currie?

Transcripts:
• Clinton, Blair Joint News Conference