Perino, a former San Diegan, at age 35 is one of the youngest press secretaries and only the second woman to hold the post. Dee Dee Myers, Bill Clinton's spokesperson, was the first and youngest, starting at age 31.
Perino moved to San Diego in 1999 and worked in corporate PR until November 2001, when she decided to join the Bush administration.
She and husband Peter McMahon, a British businessman, still own their home in San Diego's South Park.
“I keep in touch with several people in San Diego,” Perino says. One of them is Rick Cook, who hired her in 1999 at The Gable Group. She moved over to Porter Novelli's high-tech consulting arm under Karen Hutchens in January 2001.
Perino says her goal with the media is to be quick to respond, factual and creative.
“I try to give them something to work with,” she adds, noting that the need for round-the-clock news updates has made “every reporter like a wire service today.”
Perino accompanied Bush on his surprise visit to an Iraqi air base two weeks ago. Hence, one of the first photos circulated since the announcement that she would replace Snow showed Perino, who stands barely 5 feet, 1 inch tall, surrounded by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Perino's dog, a Hungarian Vizsla named Henry, is fast becoming a political celebrity. In August, she took him to Kennebunkport, Maine, with the president. During her press briefing there, Henry lay down and yawned – and it was caught on ABC News. |
