Change Comes Full Circle: Betty Currie Volunteering for Obama

The more things change, the more it looks like 1998. Now all we need is a blue, semen-stained dress.

Well, it’s official. The old Clinton gang really is back together again. Answering the phones these days for President-elect Barack Obama’s transition co-chairman, John D. Podesta, is none other than Betty Currie.

Ms. Currie, the famously devoted personal secretary to President Bill Clinton who got caught up in the independent counsel investigation into his trysts with Monica S. Lewinsky, has emerged from retirement in southern Maryland to volunteer her time at Obama headquarters.

Since leaving the White House, Ms. Currie has kept a relatively low profile in Hollywood, Md., where she lives with her husband, Bob, and Socks, the presidential cat she took after Mr. Clinton left office. Ms. Currie, 69, works with local nonprofit organizations and serves on the Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary’s County.

Ms. Currie declined to discuss her work for Mr. Obama or her recent life, citing a transition office policy against volunteers giving interviews. For someone who spent so many years at the proximity of power, she has long shied from publicity, finding its glare uncomfortable — never more so than when she was forced to testify to a grand jury five times about Mr. Clinton’s relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. But she is widely admired in Clinton circles for her loyalty and effectiveness.

Hey, what is Monica Lewinsky up to these days? Last I heard, about 250.