President-elect Barack Obama should resist the temptation of carrying Chicago to Washington! He must learn from the mistakes of Bill Clinton and George W Bush. Both made a cardinal error in carrying their home-town to their Presidencies. The appointment of a Chief of Staff sends an early signal to friends and foes alike! The President needs an experienced manager in his Chief of Staff and not an activist. Rahm Emanuel is not a slick manager; he is an aggressive ‘whip’ in the House of Representatives. He would be missed in the Congress to keep a check on Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. She might be the biggest problem for the new President! Another major problem would be an early entanglement with Israel-Palestine conflict. Rahm Emanuel is not just the son of an immigrant from Israel; he is a vocal activist for the Jewish state. Barack Obama would have bigger things to worry about!
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President. The U.S. President’s Chief of Staff is a very powerful position, sometimes dubbed “The Second-Most Powerful Man in Washington”. The Chief of Staff supervises the White House staff, manages the President’s schedule and decides who meets the President. Therefore, he is dubbed as the “Gatekeeper” to the Oval Office. An impulsive choice could undermine the President’s agenda as the Chief of Staff has the power to insulate the incumbent. This is not unusual, and there are plenty of examples like former Governor John H Sununu who was the Chief of Staff to President George H W Bush and did not serve his President well! John R Steelman was another example of a manipulative Chief of Staff who undermined the Presidency of Harry S Truman. He got America committed to Israel.
The position of the White House Chief of Staff is a recent development. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not have a Chief of Staff at the White House. His Secretary handled most of the duties, but he also had Edwin Watson as his Appointments Secretary who was responsible for all the scheduling. It was in 1946 that President Truman had to appoint a formal ‘Assistant to the President’ to handle the rapid growth of the executive office. President Obama should appoint a savvy manager to handle the office of the Chief of Staff, rather than a political operative. James Baker and Leon Panetta were the two most effective Chiefs of Staff in the White House in recent memory. They both were consummate, behind-the -scenes political operatives and sound public statesmen. Ken Duberstein was another fine Chief of Staff to President Reagan. The idea is to have open channels of communication. It is essential for a successful Presidency in the first term!
Filed under: American Tagged: | "Gatekeeper" to the Oval Office, Bill Clinton, Chicago to Washington, Chief of Staff, Congress, Executive Office of the President of the United States, experianced manager, George W Bush, Governor John H Sununu, House of Representatives, Immigrant from Israel, Israel-Palestine Conflict, James Baker, Jewish State, John R Steelman, Ken Duberstein, Leon Panetta, Nancy Pelosi, Presidencies, President George H W Bush, President Harry S Truman, President-elect Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Second-Most Powerful Man in Washington, Speaker of the House, U.S. President's Chief of Staff, White House, White House Chief of Staff
