Mike Pence may have the title, but insiders in Washington and Indiana where he served as governor, believe that Karen Pence rules the roost and is the 'real VP.'

In fact, any hesitation by the Trump team in tapping Pence for VP revolved around the power held by the woman he calls 'Mother.'

Pence became Donald Trump's pick for Vice President by playing hard to get when the future president shouted at him: 'I need killers! Do you want this thing or not?'

Pence calmly told Trump it 'doesn't matter' if he chose him and that if he wanted an 'attack dog' he had the wrong guy.

Trump had asked Pence while sitting over breakfast in Indiana in June 2016, why he was bothering being in the race if that was his attitude. Pence simply replied: 'You're in my home, you tell me'.

Trump said 'wow' and was impressed by the indifference that Pence showed to him.

By acting like he didn't want the job, Pence ensured that Trump was desperate to have him, writes Tom LoBianco, a former Associated Press reporter who covered Pence while he was governor of Indiana.

In his upcoming biography Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House, LoBianco writes this was classic Pence: looking like a nice guy on the outside but inside being a ruthless and ambitious political operator.

Mike Pence may have the title, but insiders in Washington and Indiana where he served as governor, believe that Karen Pence rules the roost and is the 'real VP.' The 62-year-old is also said to be obsessed with money. The inauguration committee paid for Karen's dress for the ball the night before Trump was sworn in, but she didn't like it and commissioned a new one instead (pictured)

Karen's obsession with money goes back decades, claims author Tom LoBianco, so when they got into the White House she asked her aides to request $1.5 million to renovate the Vice President's residence at the US Naval Observatory (pictured). Pence and Karen 'argued' about it until the Vice President went to Trump to beg for the funds

Standing very close behind Pence, 60, is his wife Karen, who LoBianco claims is the real vice president.

Karen, who is bizarrely is called 'mother' by her husband, is so crafty that she gives Pence advice over the phone so that she won't be seen hanging around him all the time.

The 62-year-old is also said to be obsessed with money and demanded $1.5 million from the Trump inauguration committee fund to renovate the Vice Presidential home.

DailyMail.com reached out to the vice president's communications director for comment on the claims in the book but received no response.

In his upcoming book Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House , LoBianco writes this was classic Pence: looking like a nice guy but really being a ruthless and ambitious political operator

Pence was a surprise pick to be Trump's running mate but he has rewarded the him with loyalty that his critics view as bordering on sycophancy.

As Vice President, Pence has given Trump cover from the religious right by standing firmly against abortion and homosexuality.

Pence is a born again evangelical and calls himself a 'Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order'.

But LoBianco argues that something comes before all of those - being a politician.

He describes Pence as the 'ultimate political shape-shifter' whose views change depending on what advances his career.

In public Pence tries to portray himself as a nice guy but in private - and occasionally in public too - his temper flares up and the ruthlessness behind the mask slips into view.

Nowhere was Pence's cunning behavior more apparent than his maneuvering to get the job of Vice President, which culminated in an unexpected dinner with Trump in Indianapolis in June 2016 when Trump's plane had a flat tire.

At the time Trump was still choosing from former House speaker Newt Gingrich, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Pence to be his running mate.

Trump got stranded in Indianapolis and over breakfast at the governor's mansion - his family flew in and Karen Pence joined them - he laid it out.

Donald Trump was so impressed by Mike Pence's indifference to becoming his running mate in the 2016 Presidential Election, it earned him the job as VP. Trump had asked Pence while sitting over breakfast in Indiana in June 2016, why he was bothering being in the race. Pence simply replied: 'You're in my home, you tell me'. Trump said 'wow' and gave him the job. Pictured: Trump announcing Pence as his VP in July 2016

Trump barked: 'I need killers, I want somebody to fight. Chris Christie calls me nonstop about this job. He calls me every 10 seconds, he'd do anything for this job.

'He is dying to be vice president. And you, it's like you don't care. I need killers! Do you want this thing or not?'

Pence was calm and told Trump that 'if you want somebody to be a constant attack dog, I'm not that guy'.

Pence went on: 'I'm going to do things in my own style, because that's how I'm comfortable. If you want somebody to help you govern, if you want somebody to build relationships with donors I'm your guy'.

He added: 'To your question, I like being governor. I like running for reelection. I'd love to do this for four more years. I really enjoy this… if you don't want me I'm gonna work really hard for you and the other guy. It doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter.'

Trump said if that was the case, then why was Pence bothering being in the race to have his name on the ticket.

Pence said: 'You're in my home, you tell me'.

Trump just said: 'Wow' - and gave him the job,

As Trump was vetting Pence he is said to have 'marveled' at his clean record.

Trump, a serial adulterer who had made a fortune in the bare knuckle world of New York real estate, 'couldn't understand' Pence, a devout Midwesterner who wasn't ruled by money.

The real source of concern for the Trump team was Karen Pence. LoBianco writes: 'Mike didn't bother them. But Karen did. The Trump camp had heard horror stories about Karen, the same ones that percolated through the halls of the [Indiana] statehouse.' Pence met Karen in law school at Indiana University and they have been married since 1965

One day Trump flicked through the executive summary of the vetting process and threw it away because it was so boring.

LoBianco writes that Trump said complained 'where's the hard stuff' but the toughest it got was a 1990 Pence campaign advert with an actor playing an Arab sheikh.

The Trump team thought: 'That was racist? Hard to tell. This was the Trump campaign'.

In fact, the real source of concern for the Trump team was Karen Pence.

LoBianco writes: 'Mike didn't bother them. But Karen did. The Trump camp had heard horror stories about Karen, the same ones that percolated through the halls of the [Indiana] statehouse.

'But just as in those halls, Trump's campaign couldn't put a finger on her power, like a shadow governor'.

Pence met Karen in law school at Indiana University and they have been married since 1965.

LoBianco describes their relationship as 'ying and yang' but there is little doubt who has the power.

Pence is so devoted to Karen that he has instituted a rule that he does not drink, dine or meet alone with a woman other than his wife, which has earned him public ridicule.

The author writes that Pence has another motto: 'Nothing good happens after the second drink and 9pm'.

The book says that 'Karen Pence rules the roost' when it comes to her husband, who when he was a Congressman was home for dinner every single night.

When the Access Hollywood tape came out, in which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women, Pence considered quitting as VP. When Trump finally got through to Pence after 18 hours, he asked to be put through to Karen - and apologized to her profusely

Pence has a faux antique red phone in his office that Karen calls him on. Smart lobbyists in Washington know that if they want to get a message to Pence, they tell Karen's friends who pass it on to her.

The 'power of getting to Karen was undeniable - which was part of the reason Pence's aides fought to show who had true access to her', the book says.

When the Access Hollywood tape came out in which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women, Pence considered quitting as Vice President.

Karen even wondered 'how they could face their daughters and son if they supported such defiling behavior'.

When Trump finally got through to Pence after 18 hours of trying to reach him, he asked to be put through to Karen - and apologized to her profusely.

The author claims Karen's obsession with money goes back decades, so when they got into the White House she asked her aides to request $1.5 million to renovate the Vice President's residence at the US Naval Observatory.

Pence and Karen 'argued' about it until the Vice President went to Trump to beg for the funds.

Trump offered them $750,000 from his inauguration committee, which went to the Vice President's Residence Foundation but Pence's aides thought it was actually to help them out of their financial difficulties and debt.

The inauguration committee also paid for Karen's dress for the ball the night before Trump was sworn in, but she didn't like it and commissioned Indiana-based Joyce Hittesdorf instead.

The French Chantilly lace bodice with square cut sleeves and embroidered silk skirt was savaged on social media with some saying it was a 're-purposed wedding dress'.

In fact it was crafted from the original gown and new materials, LoBianco writes.

Ahead of the book's launch on September 24, LoBianco claimed in an interview that Pence's allies are worried that Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner (pictured together in 2017) want to push Pence aside from the ticket in 2020

Karen supposedly submitted two invoices to the inauguration committee, one for $110, apparently for the extra materials, and another for the full cost of the dress.

Ahead of the book's launch on September 24, LoBianco claimed in an interview that Pence's allies are worried that Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner want to push Pence aside from the ticket in 2020.

LoBianco describes in his book that Pence and Trump's working relationship as being no more than 'cordial' even after years of working together.

Part of the problem is that Trump believes that Pence secretly wants his job - which the book says is obvious to anyone who knows the Vice President.

Such suspicions are not helped by the disclosure that in April 2016, George W. Bush sent a secret message to Pence via his donors: 'Please stop Trump and save the Republican party'.

The book is not the first unflattering account of Pence's time in the White House.

In The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence, authors Michael D'Antonio and Peter Eisner claimed that Pence was a slave to his corporate masters and a religious zealot.

Pence supposedly believes that he can 'save Donald Trump's soul' but makes it no secret that he desperately wants his job.

The book's claims include that Pence has developed a fake sincerity and niceness that he has 'weaponized as a tool of persuasion and deflection'.

It dubs Pence 'the most successful Christian supremacist in American history' and claims that Pence, who once considered becoming a priest, has God-like delusions of grandeur.

Pence has only avoided a coup because he believes Trump is so vulnerable to being impeached, meaning he would get the job anyway.

Tom LoBianco's biography Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House is available here on September 24.