Hillary Clinton FIRST LADY ELECT

Part of a power partnership, she’s every bit the president’s equal. Dauntingly smart, she symbolizes women’s gains. She’s sure to stir controversy as she makes her way in Washington.

Tipper Core SECOND LADY ELECT

She chose to stay home with her children, but as a founder of a group that crusaded for warning labels on sexually explicit or violent rock lyrics, she had an impact beyond her home. Once a newspaper photographer, she’ll focus on children’s mental-health issues.

Marian Wright Edelman SOCIAL ACTIVIST

As head of the Children’s Defense Fund, she will be Clinton’s conscience on a range of social issues. Her cause is also Hillary’s-the two have worked together for 20 years. She could have a job in the new administration, but relishes her independence as an outside voice.

Pamela Harriman FUND RAISER

A guiding spirit of the Democratic Party, she spotted Clinton early (a decade ago) and made sure he was invited to the right gatherings (many of them at her Georgetown home). A former British subject, Harriman is a natural to be named ambassador to Britain, but she says that Washington is too exciting to leave right now.

Dianne Feinstein SENATOR ELECT

Her liberalism is leavened by her early support for the death penalty-but her feminism is not in question. Expect Feinstein (pictured here with her granddaughter) to break the all-male hold on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mandy Grunwald MEDIA CONSULTANT

A member of Clinton’s campaign brain trust, she pushed for the Clinton persona to be packaged like a winning soap opera: triumph over adversity. Grunwald’s specialty is SWAT-team advertising that lets no charge go unanswered. She is a fearsomely smart woman who is not afraid to be tough-and not afraid of success.

Sandra Day O’Connor SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

She is the first-and only-woman on the Supreme Court. A Reagan appointee, there is affection for her across party lines. She is a conservative who occasionally has shown an independent streak; she devised the “undue burden” test that has limited the court’s restrictions on abortion rights.