He did uniformly badly in lessons … but succeeded in passing his final examinations because he had influential friends".
It would have been easy for him to take a job abroad and he had influential friends in English football.
Erasmus's home base was now in Brabant, where he had influential friends at the Habsburg court of the Netherlands in Brussels, notably the grand chancellor, Jean Sauvage.
His aggressive approach to political combat has excited the Tea Party contingent, but he also has influential allies on Wall Street and in other power centers of the Republican Party.
He also has influential support with Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly telling a charity lunch this week that United should give the job permanently to the player he signed as a 14-year-old schoolboy in 1987.
She has influential friends.
But Mr. Hagel has influential defenders.
His consistency has been impressive-which is not to say he has been influential.
"He has been influential in the caucus and someone Senator Daschle increasingly turns to".
He has been influential in Afghanistan's jihadi movement for well over a decade, according to the Associated Press.
