If another Democrat had won the White House, Hillary would be on his (or her) short-list for the cabinet. But in the Clinton administration, Hillary has a wider role to play. The expectation among friends and aides is that she will act as an unofficial chief of staff. Not that she will have an office in the West Wing, but she will find a way to oversee everything. And having an old family friend like Mack McLarty as chief of staff makes it an easy fit. Hillary Clinton is Bill’s Daytimer, the gentle lash who keeps him focused, who doesn’t mind making decisions and refereeing disputes when Clinton would rather stall. A cabinet stacked with social activists and economic conservatives guarantees more battles than Clinton has the stomach to settle. “He’s more spontaneous and creative,” says an aide. “Can you imagine if he married someone just like himself? His life would be a disaster. And if she married someone just like her, no one would have dinner at her house. People would be too intimidated.”

The fact that Hillary brings independent credentials to the White House should be celebrated, but like most Firsts, this makes people nervous. She understands that, and is approaching her new role with great caution. “She never makes the same mistake twice,” says a friend, recalling the campaign caricature of Hillary as the feminist wife from hell. She has said almost nothing publicly about how she will shape her First Ladyship. With women moving into positions of power on Capitol Hill and in the government, Hillary is a natural ally. But she is sensitive to cultural tradition and does not want to be seen as “the leader of the pack,” says an aide. Unlike her husband, she has not been validated by the voters. She knows there are people out there who are uneasy about her potential power, and she’s not going to give them a reason to make her a target.

The question facing the Clintons is how upfront they will be about Hillary’s role. Some advisers think the only way around potential criticism is to give Hillary a clearly defined job. Without turf of her own, the dark imaginings about what she is up to could overshadow her positive efforts. Hillary has often said that she intends to be “a voice for children” in the White House. That is somehow comforting to Beltway insiders who consider children and education “safe” issues for a First Lady. But they could be in for a surprise. Hillary and two of her oldest friends-Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Donna Shalala and Children’s Defense Fund head Marian Wright Edelman-will be a formidable team with a broad agenda. Even so, some aides want Hillary to take on a bigger issue at the heart of the Clinton presidency, like health-care reform. That way, she wouldn’t have time to get involved in everything else.

Everyone who knows the Clintons says Hillary is his most important adviser. That won’t change, whatever the eventual packaging. “He married a brain trust; it would be very wasteful not to use it,” says friend Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, creator of television’s “Designing Women.” For Hillary’s birthday last October, she and eight other women gave Hillary a “circle of friends” gold bracelet, with their initials engraved on the links, accompanied by individual letters spelling out their hopes and dreams for Hillary as First Lady. Archivists may wrench those outpourings from Hillary, but for now she’s not sharing them with anyone but her family. They probably mirror the expectations a lot of women-and men-have for her as a new kind of First Lady. On the speech circuit, the mention of Hillary’s name makes people sit up in their seats. “They want to know, ‘Will she be involved?’ and my answer is, ‘I hope so’,” says campaign consultant James Carville.

Any speculation about Hillary’s role has to take into account the dynamics of the Clintons’ marriage. Like most marriages, theirs is not easily susceptible to journalistic punditry. The campaign focus on their earlier marital problems obscured the real bond between them. It is clear, for instance, that the differences between them also serve as a kind of counterweight. She has the lawyerly, analytical mind; he likes to wander off into the thickets of policy wonkdom. Clinton has no small respect for his wife’s abilities. He almost put his presidential run on hold because of Hillary. In the summer of ‘91, he agonized over asking Hillary to “once again sacrifice” her career for his political ambitions. Clinton thought it would be better to wait four years “and let her shine.” Aides finally convinced him that running for president would have the side benefit of giving Hillary a podium for the policies she cares about. Convincing Hillary wasn’t easy; some aides suspect she gave her blessing only because she thought it would be a training run.

Clinton has been reluctant to say that Hillary’s role will be limited in any way-in part, because he entered the race believing she was making a sacrifice. She was the one who always gave up everything for him: her Yankee roots, her maiden name, her options. He also knows better than anyone how good she is. Reacting to Clinton’s comment last week that Hillary would be attending cabinet meetings (“She knows more about this stuff than most of us do”), an aide in Little Rock remarked only half-jokingly that “cabinet meetings would be a step down for her.”

Hillary has sought refuge in the growing sorority of professional women married to politicians. “Hillary and I had some laughs about this stuff,” says Ruth Harkin, a Washing-ton attorney and wife of Sen. Tom Harkin. “One of the things about Hillary is she moves on.” In Arkansas, it took a term or two for the voters to fully appreciate Hillary. During that period, she confided in Hattie Babbitt, another bright lawyer and the wife of Bruce Babbitt, then the governor of Arizona. A decade ago, when most governors’ wives settled for cutting an occasional ribbon, Hillary was chalking up real accomplishments. It was possible, says Babbitt, because “our states were such small ponds.” Soon Hillary will be swimming in Washington, where the sharks outnumber the lawyers. The limits to her power are not as obvious as they were for previous First Ladies, But they are just as real.

What is your opinion of Hillary Clinton? 49% Favorable 17% Unfavorable 34% Don’t know Would you like to see Hillary Clinton play an active role in policy-making in the Clinton administration? 46% Yes 40% No For this NEWSWEEK Poll, The Gallup Organization interviewed a national sample of 750 women by telephone Dec. 17-18. Margin of error +/- 4 percentage points. “Don’t know” and other responses not shown. The NEWSWEEK Poll copyright 1992 by NEWSWEEK, Inc.