And after six weeks of self-imposed anonymity, Huntsman emerged like a diplomat, too, overlooking his defeats to confidently declare his 45 days with the restive natives a success. Normally fractious lawmakers, who came away on the winning side of most closed-door dust-ups with the governor, graciously credited Huntsman's "style" for helping him come away with a modest bag of legislative goodies.

But while the governor and his staff repeatedly bring up his diplomatic background - he was U.S. ambassador to Singapore and a deputy U.S. trade representative - as the reason for the legislative love fest, other factors probably were equally important. His reluctance to upstage them, as previous governors have, with carefully timed news conferences helped his strategy for nurturing legislative good will. A year flush with cash defused tension over budget priorities. Newly elected lawmakers - many were on Capitol Hill for the first time - also were feeling their way. And Huntsman is nearly unknown in Utah political circles - he hasn't had time to make enemies in the Legislature.

As a result, the governor was able to virtually disappear from public view after his State of the State address in Fillmore on Jan. 18 and re-emerge this week to announce victory, looking none the worse for wear.

Through almost daily closed-door meetings or phone calls with legislative leaders and the sometimes tentative lobbying of his inexperienced staff, the governor managed to convince lawmakers to sign off on a dramatic restructuring of the state Community and Economic Development Department, pour $18 million into Utah tourism promotion, scrape together $4.6 million to cover medical benefits for the state's poor and still fund his incentive for math and science teachers. Legislation to limit his control over the Capitol Complex and the state budget stalled.

But there are notable failures. House members refused to go along with his plan to cut corporate income taxes. His open support for tuition tax credits didn't sway enough representatives to push the legislation through. A bill he backed to grant property rights and end-of-life decision-making power to unmarried couples was dead on arrival. New Huntsman Economic Advisor Chris Roybal was left sweating in the back of the House chamber until 11:57 p.m. on the last night of the session, when representatives gave final approval to his economic development reorganization plan. Even seemingly innocuous legislation to give Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert and other Huntsman Cabinet members a boost in pay got hung up and died in the final minutes.

The governor says he didn't count on getting everything on his list. But he insists he got the big ones. "In every one of those areas, it took creating alliances and working with people," Huntsman said. "These aren't things that would have happened in a vacuum."

He and his staff credit his background as a diplomat. "It's served us well," said Chief of Staff Jason Chaffetz.

University of Utah Political Science Professor Matthew Burbank agrees. "He was able to maintain very good relations with legislators and made them think they were the center of the process, which, of course, is what legislators like to think," Burbank said. "Most of the things that could have been controversial and could have been made into points of debate, tended to be handled in a back-room fashion."

Where former Gov. Mike Leavitt would hold news conferences before and during the legislative session to pressure lawmakers to go along with his wishes, Huntsman remained out of sight. He also apparently didn't employ Gov. Olene Walker's strategy of threatening a veto to push his agenda.

Utah's new governor doesn't like to be compared to those who had the office before him. "I'm never going to use my predecessors as a measuring stick," Huntsman said as the Legislature wound down. "They were here at a different time, in a different place. I stayed focused on the important issues."

Lawmakers apparently appreciated a new approach.

"This governor was very hands-on. We were constantly calling each other," said Senate President John Valentine. "His style is to build consensus, not to whip someone into compliance."

But some have speculated that if Huntsman had done more, said more publicly, he might have been able to corral House moderates to sign off on tuition tax credits and a corporate tax cut.

As it was, two of the issues he trumpeted for months on the campaign trail and highlighted as legislative priorities became his most splashy flops.

Orem Republican Rep. Jim Ferrin doesn't believe the governor could have done more. "I don't think that tuition tax credits failed because the governor didn't try hard enough," said Ferrin, sponsor of the tuition tax credits legislation. "I don't blame the governor any more than I blame myself."

Others say the youth and inexperience of Huntsman's legislative team might have hurt some of his priorities. "It was definitely a learning year," said Utah Education Association President Pat Rusk.

Leavitt used Walker, a 10-year veteran of the Legislature and his lieutenant governor, to smooth his relationship with lawmakers. After 11 years on the job, Walker kept on most of Leavitt's staff for her year in office as governor. All were familiar faces during the session. In contrast, some lawmakers took to calling the new East Capitol Complex building, which houses Huntsman's office, the "Sigma Chi House" after the college fraternity.

Huntsman plans to push some of the initiatives that lawmakers let languish - like that pay raise for Herbert - through in an April 20 special session. And he expects a tax reform task force to focus on the corporate income tax cut. Next year is another year, he says.