Man Behind Key Brazil Reform Is Flirting With Presidential Bid

In an age of populism and flamboyance, Rodrigo Maia doesn’t exactly look the part of a rising political figure. Round-faced and soft-spoken, the speaker of the lower house of Brazil’s congress comes off as a touch uncomfortable in his own skin, fiddling repeatedly with his tie, his jacket, his wedding band and his thinning hair during an hours-long interview.

Yet Maia is having something of a moment following the historic passage of a social security reform bill that he’s widely credited with making happen. Flown to New York to receive the Wilson Center’s Award for Public Service, he also got a hero’s welcome from Wall Street financiers who now see him as crucial to Brazil’s economic stability.