Person of the Week: Reggie Love

Jan. 23, 2009— -- Reggie Love is only 26, but he is as close to the president as anyone.

He's not family or Secret Service. He's Obama's "body man," a title given to the personal aide of every president and presidential candidate.

Since 2005, Love hasn't strayed far from the president's side, accompanying him on the campaign trail, offering support.

"Reggie is with me all the time," Obama told ESPN during the presidential campaign last summer. "He is the person who keeps me on schedule."

From keeping the newly-minted president on schedule to anticipating his needs, Love is prepared for anything.

"I am an extra set of hands, if he ever needs it," Love said. "Anything that I can do to make life just a little bit easier is, you know, part of my job."

In his travel bag, Love carries anything and everything -- from cold medicine to breath mints.

"Note pads. Lint-- This is like a lint brush," Love said, pulling out tools from his arsenal. "Toothbrush, Scope, cough drops, Tylenol, aspirin, Sudafed..."

The candidate and the body man bonded with sports. The two men began a ritual of basketball on primary days for luck after they skipped it twice and lost in New Hampshire and Nevada.

"Reggie is the best athlete that I know," Obama told ESPN last summer.

Love played basketball and football at Duke University and had dreams of becoming a professional athlete. He was recruited by the NFL, but tryouts fizzled in 2004 and 2005. That's when the Duke graduate with strong grades turned toward politics, landing an internship in the Washington mail room of then-Sen. Obama's office.

"When I first came to D.C. to work for Sen. Obama in the Senate office, I made less than $30,000," Love recalled.

Starting at the bottom, Love worked his way up to his current position. He was promoted within a year and headed off on the campaign trail.

"Which isn't to say that Reggie never screws up," Obama said candidly in an interview with ESPN's "E:60" last summer. "Once when we were already on our way to the airport, I said, 'Reggie, where is my briefcase?' And he didn't say anything, but suddenly these beads of sweat popped on his bald head. The briefcase was not with me."