I had mostly been spared the petty office dynamics that many people deal with every day. I had also never been so proximate to “power,” which seemed to have earned its reputation as a corroding force. I still don’t know whether I was being undermined because my relationship with Obama existed independently of the normal office hierarchy, because I was a woman, or some combination. Regardless, I realized that sharing the same general political loyalties does not mean that people are kindred spirits. And I now knew that I would need to keep up my guard.
