Sometimes they hide it in plain site. Thus, a Buzzfeed (I know) article about Mark Childress.
"Meet The Most Powerful Man In The White House You've Never Heard Of"
[The essay begins thus]
'With the Obama administration coping with a whole new sort of challenge — a wave of scandals and allegations that threaten to disrupt the president's second-term agenda — the White House has turned not to a high-profile outside PR fixer, but to a well-connected Washington insider known for keeping himself out of the spotlight.
Mark Childress, a veteran of Tom Daschle's staff who took an unusual detour through Australian aboriginal politics, played a central role in cleaning up a signature mess of 2012: the White House's shifting message on requiring employers to offer contraception coverage. This year, he led the early attempts to contain the scandal over the IRS targeting conservative groups. And now aides say he is playing a central, behind-the-scenes role in shaping the White House's message on one key issue: selling Obamacare. Childress is part of a tight-knit ex-Daschle fraternity that includes chief of staff Denis McDonough, and is known among colleagues for being the guy who can find the solution no one else can.'
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https:// www.buzzfeednews.com/article/evanmcsan/meet-the-most-powerful-man-in-the-white-house-youve-never-he