Body man

Reggie Love, left, Barack Obama's body man from 2009 to 2011, is seen here in a presidential motorcade outside Strasbourg for the NATO Summit, April 2009

Elliott Frutkin, acting as President Bill Clinton's Interim body man in 1994-1995, seen here far right, screens line approaching the President during meet & greet at the Conference on Trade & Investment-Central and Eastern Europe, January 1995.

A body man or body woman is, in U.S. political jargon, a personal assistant and sometimes valet to a politician or political candidate. Such a person accompanies the politician or candidate virtually everywhere, often arranging lodging, transportation, and meals, and providing snacks, a cell phone, and any other necessary assistance.

List of notable body men and body women

• Kris Engskov, aide to President Bill Clinton, 1997–2000
• Blake Gottesman, aide to President George W. Bush, 2001–2006
• Reggie Love, aide to President Barack Obama, 2009–2011
• Huma Abedin, aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 2004–present

Fictional

• Charlie Young (played by Dulé Hill), personal assistant to President Josiah Bartlet for the first six years of the NBC TV series, The West Wing
• Gary Walsh (played by Tony Hale), personal aide to Vice-President Selina Meyer in the HBO TV series Veep
• Marissa Gold (played by Sarah Steele), personal aide to Cook County State's Attorney Alicia Florrick in the CBS TV series The Good Wife
• Dembe Zuma (played by Hisham Tawfiq), personal assistant and bodyguard to FBI Task Force informant Raymond Reddington in the NBC TV series The Blacklist

References