Says Bradshaw, "I've watched her go toe to toe on issues with people on the Hill and stand her own ground and explain things in ways they could understand (she's just smarter than most people up there). And yet she's so nice about it."

Nice, but driven, too. Walker's even temper belies a fierce competitive streak. When she golfs with Myron she handicaps the game and insists on keeping score. Ditto when she plays games with the grandkids.

"They know Grandma's not going to let them win unless they can actually beat her," says Myron. "As long as anyone will stay up to play with her she's there."

"She is so competitive," says Slighting. "My daughter kept beating her at a game, and after she went to bed my mother stayed up dealing her a ghost hand to try to beat her and still lost. She was practicing all night."

'More we can do'

What's next for the grand lady of Utah politics? She has received several job offers.

"I keep thinking, what are they thinking offering a woman my age a job?"

She vows not to work as many hours as she is now, but that's not much of a concession.

Recently, the governor was asked during a radio interview if she was leading the life she was meant to live. After a pause, Walker replied, "Well, there's always so much more we can do."

"That was powerful to me," says Varela. "It described her as well as anything I've seen."

Asked to elaborate later, Walker says, "You can't help but think you could do more — because I've had a good life. These are not unique feelings. We all have those."

Looking back at her political career as the end nears, Walker admits there have been times when she has had to pinch herself, sitting among the nation's leaders, "the housewife from Utah sitting in Washington with leaders of the country," as she says.

"She typifies the great things that can come to politics and public policy by the extensive involvement of women," says Leavitt. "She is one of the truly great stateswomen in our history. Her status as first woman to serve as governor is an appropriate honor."

When she walks away from politics at the end of the year, she will spend more time with Myron and maybe get another red convertible sports car. (She gave one up at the behest of security. "I haven't had a whistle since then," she says.) She says she assumes she will continue to work on homeless issues, economic development and affordable housing.

For Walker, there is always so much more she can do.

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E-mail: drob@desnews.com