Twelve days after Donald Trump's election victory, the President-elect asked John Kelly to meet with him at the stately Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to discuss the roles of secretaries of State and Homeland Security.

It was a small gathering. Present was Reince Priebus, the Republican Party chair who later became White House chief of staff, a post that he resigned this week. Also attending was Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist. Kelly, like other retired generals, impressed the President-elect, enough so that soon he'll leave his post atop the Department of Homeland Security to replace Priebus in the West Wing.

That meeting last November launched what has become one of the President's most important relationships within his beleaguered administration. He likes Kelly. He trusts Kelly. But what remains to be seen is whether Trump will listen to him as Kelly seeks to bring order to a White House beset by chaos.

After it was announced that Priebus would be leaving, a friend of the Homeland Security secretary told The Washington Post that Kelly, a tough-talking Bostoner who spent 45 years in the Marines, is ideally suited to confront the challenges he'll face.