Friends describe her as being able to navigate between different worlds -- from small-town Oklahoma and Wellesley College, a private women's college outside Boston that she attended, to complex policy debates in Washington.

"She is very comfortable in and around politics. She grew up in a political family, and it comes very naturally to her," said Leslie Belcher, a Washington lobbyist who worked on Capitol Hill with Ryan and was later one of Ryan's bridesmaids.