The White House staff : inside the West Wing and beyond / Bradley H. Patterson Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Patterson, Bradley H. (Bradley Hawkes), 1921-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Presidents--United States--Staff.

Presidents.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (503 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Brookings Institution Press, c2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Shrouded in anonymity, protected by executive privilege, but with no legal or constitutional authority of their own, the 5,900 people in 125 offices collectively known as the "White House staff" assist the chief executive by shaping, focusing, and amplifying presidential policy. Why is the staff so large? How is it organized and what do those 125 offices actually do? In this sequel to his critically appraised 1988 book, Ring of Power, Bradley H. Patterson Jr.--a veteran of three presidential administrations--takes us inside the closely guarded turf of the White House. In a straightforward narrative free of partisan or personal agendas, Patterson provides an encyclopedic description of the contemporary White House staff and its operations. He illustrates the gradual shift in power from the cabinet departments to the staff and, for the first time in presidential literature, presents an accounting for the total budget of the modern White House. White House staff members control everything from the monumental to the mundane. They prepare the president for summit conferences, but also specify who sits on Air Force One. They craft the language for the president to use on public occasions--from a State of the Union Address to such "Rose Garden rubbish" as the pre-Thanksgiving pardon for the First Turkey. The author provides an entertaining yet in-depth overview of these responsibilities. Patterson also illuminates the astounding degree to which presidents personally conduct American diplomacy and personally supervise U.S. military actions. The text is punctuated with comments by senior White House aides and by old Washington hands whose careers go back more than half a century. The book provides not only a comprehensive key to the offices and activities that make the White House work, but also the feeling of belonging to that exclusive membership

inside the West Wing.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright Information

Table of Contents

Preface to the Paperback Edition

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One: Outside and Inside the White House

Outside the Gates: A No-Consensus Society

Inside the Gates: Alternatives for Organizing a White House

The Not-So-Bashful Bureaucracy

The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

To Summarize and Analyze . . . Refine the Conflicting Views": The Domestic Policy Staff

The National Economic Council

The "Just-Us Department": The Counsel to the President

Legislative Affairs: "An Ambulatory Bridge across a Constitutional Gulf

Equidistant in an Adversarial Relationship: The Press Secretary

The Continuing Campaign: The Office of Communications

Judson Welliver and His Successors: The Speechwriting Office

Representing Interests and Building Coalitions: The Office of Public Liaison

Achievements versus Activities: The Office of Presidential Scheduling

Energizer for Federalism: The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Supporting Political Central: The Office of Political Affairs and Independent Political Consultants

Control All the Way Down: The Office of Presidential Personnel

Manager of Apparently Effortless Success: The Advance Office

First-Magnitude Czars: Special Assistants for Special Purposes

First Special Counselor: The President's Spouse

Second Special Counselor: The Vice President

Third Special Counselor: The Vice President's Spouse

The President's Centripetal Offices

Part Three: The Professional White House

Serving the Presidency: The Professional Staffs of the Modern White House

Part Four: White House Service in the Years Ahead

The Essence of White House Service: Looking to the Future

Notes

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 437-471) and index.

ISBN:

9780815798224

0815798229

OCLC:

70725438