Meet Obama's Shadow

Reggie Love is rarely more than a body length away from Barack Obama, but the ever-present aide isn’t a body guard or a strategist—heck, the 26-year-old doesn’t even have a job description. “It was just like, ‘You just go out there and… Take. Care. Of. Stuff,’” Love tells the New York Times. Love is a “body man,” charged with meeting the senator’s every personal need.

So Love has become an expert on Obama’s favorite foods, a constant source of pens, protein bars, and Nicorette, and a morning workout companion. The two play basketball every primary day, something Love, who played football and basketball for Duke, is well qualified for. “There’s no doubt that Reggie is cooler than I am,” Obama says. “I am living vicariously through Reggie.” (More Obama 2008 stories.)