A man with many friends: Priebus tapped as chief of staff

Yet the Republican National Committee chairman would come to earn the trust and confidence of President-elect Donald Trump, who on Sunday named Priebus as his chief of staff, along with flame-throwing media executive Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist.

The 44-year-old Wisconsin political operative will help guard access to the president-elect, guide policy and political decisions, and if past practice holds true, will often be, along with Bannon, the last person Trump consults before making major decisions.

Yet his extraordinary ability to build and maintain relationships with his party's power brokers and grassroots sets him apart from other prospective chiefs of staff.

Trump's new chief of staff and the House speaker met in the late 1990s when Priebus was a party activist in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, and Ryan was running for Congress.

Priebus was already the longest serving chairman in party history, having worked in that role since January 2011, but he easily could have been re-elected early next year had he wanted to seek another term.

[...] his status as a party insider caught the attention of Trump supporters such as tea party leader Jenny Beth Martin.

Priebus "gets along with pretty much everybody," said Lanhee Chen, a former top adviser to the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney.