J.D. Vance isn't the only Trump ally who helped his parents overcome addiction. Susie Wiles, the president's next chief of staff, is the daughter of the late legendary NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall, and is credited with helping her father overcome alcoholism.
Wiles was announced Thursday night as President Trump's chief of staff, making her the first female chief of staff in U.S. history.
Summerall was an NFL champion kicker and served as lead color commentator with John Madden on CBS for more than 20 years. However, Summerall admitted that he became an alcoholic during his broadcasting career. In his 2006 biography, he details the intervention and pleas from his daughter Susie to bring about change.
According to Summerall's 2006 autobiography, Wiles wrote in a letter read aloud during the intervention: “Dad, we've been together in public a few times recently and I'm embarrassed to say we have the same last name.'' ” he said. Off the Air. ”
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CBS NFL commentator Pat Summerall (left) and analyst John Madden broadcast during an NFL football game in 1986. (Focus on Sports/Getty Images)
Summerall wrote that her daughter's words inspired her to take steps to address her addiction.
Summerall's drinking problem worsened early in his broadcasting career when he was paired with Tom Brookshire. According to SF Gate, the two have admitted to calling matches together for six years and drinking heavily together the night before a match.
In a 1991 interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Summerall described a time when he nearly died from blood loss due to drinking alcohol.
“I found myself bleeding to death and my life passing before my eyes in a strange blur,” he told the outlet. “The doctors said if I had been 15 minutes later in going to the emergency room, I wouldn't have made history.”
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The same article details an incident in the 1990s in which Summerall threw up in an airplane bathroom after calling Madden at a Washington Redskins-Chicago Bears game.
“I felt so sick on the last leg that I went to the airplane toilet three times to throw up,” Summerall said. “I'm an expert at upchucking because I get hungover a lot. But this time was different. I was vomiting blood.”
Summerall also admitted using painkillers to deal with stomach problems caused by constant drinking.
“I thought everyone woke up at 10 o'clock every morning and drank beer,” he said. “I continued to fill my empty stomach with strong alcohol, and continued to take copious amounts of painkillers for my butt-soccer knee and back problems. For many days, I took eight to 10 Advil tablets, and other I also took some medicine.”
Halfback Phil King, left. Star placekicker Pat Summerall, center; New York Giants quarterback Don Heinrich toasts at the Lone Star Boat Club after celebrating a 20-3 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Yankee Stadium. (Getty Images)
Summerall eventually overcame his addiction through Wiles' intervention and Christianity.
“My craving for alcohol was replaced by a hunger for faith and knowledge about God. I began reading the Bible regularly at the Betty Ford Treatment Center and it became a part of my daily life. I became a part of it,” he wrote in his autobiography.
Years before helping his father overcome alcoholism, Wiles began his political career as an assistant to a former teammate of Summerall's.
In 1979, she was hired as an assistant to U.S. Congressman Jack Kemp, a former teammate of Summerall's with the New York Giants.
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Wiles made a name for himself by delivering hard truths to powerful political figures.
Wiles is a senior adviser to President Trump and co-chairs his campaign with Chris Lacivita.
A longtime Florida-based Republican strategist who ran Trump's campaigns in the state in 2016 and 2020, Wiles' decades-long political career began when he ran former President Reagan's campaign for president in 1980. This goes back to when he worked as an employee.
In between presidential campaigns, Wiles supported Ron DeSantis' 2018 gubernatorial bid. Mr. Wiles also managed Rick Scott's 2010 Florida gubernatorial campaign and briefly served as former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman's 2012 presidential campaign manager.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump watches the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Jets game with senior campaign consultant Susie Wiles on October 20, 2024 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. (Evan Vucci/Pool/Getty Images)
At his victory celebration in West Palm Beach, Florida, President Trump expressed special gratitude to Mr. Wiles for his prominent role in the campaign.
“I would also like to express a huge thank you to Susie.” [Wiles] and chris [LaCivita] About the work you did. Susie, come on, Susie,” he said. “Susie likes to be in the background, I'll tell you. Ice Baby. We call her Ice Baby. Susie likes to be in the background. She's in the background. not here.”
Vice President-elect Vance also helped his mother overcome her addiction to alcohol and heroin, which became the subject of Vance's book Hillbilly Elegy and the film of the same name.
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