Spring Break
White House Chief of Staff Describes Role, Principles, Concerns
Dave Trulio (OC), Special Contributor
Issue date: 4/5/04 Section: News
Shaping how decisions are to be conveyed and actively explaining them to Congress and the public does not fall exclusively within the Chief's purview, but he is an important participant on this front. According to Card, "I have to make sure that the communication of the decision comes in the right way at the right time at the right people."
Shifting to the bedrock principles of his relationship with President Bush, Secretary Card spoke of truth and trust. He made it clear that in order such a relationship to function properly, each person must consistently engage the other with extreme candor and forthrightness. In addition, the President must trust Card to deliver to him, and interpret, relevant information at the appropriate time - such as in the midst of a visit to a Florida elementary school when Card whispered into the President's ear that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center and that America was under attack.
The President must also trust that Secretary Card will exercise sound judgment, foresight and skill in discerning who ought to have access to him, and when. Given endless demand for the President's precious time, Card explained that he applies a "need versus want" test to those seeking to speak or submit a memorandum to the President: no matter how great the desire for the chief executive's attention, with Card as "gatekeeper," no time with the President will be scheduled in the absence of a genuine and sufficient need.
Considering the status and caliber of people who can vie for the President's attention, and given their areas or responsibility and influence, there can be little doubt that Secretary Card's role is a delicate one, and that the job entails enormous responsibility to the President and (by extension) the country. For these reasons, and because the White House Chief of Staff serves at the pleasure of the President, Card's "great fear" is that he will become the President's friend.
Secretary Card argues that a Chief of Staff who becomes too close to the President he/she serves will, by virtue of that bond, make it more difficult for that President to express displeasure with the Chief's performance. If poor performance is allowed to continue with no course correction or dismissal of the Chief, that President (and hence the American people) is undermined. Since it must be tempting for many to want to get close to the President, faithfully keeping the distance that Card advocates must not be easy.
A further pitfall that Secretary Card identified for Chiefs of Staff is "the temptation to be prime minister" - in this context, an official who ought not inhabit the American system, and someone rendered ineffective by an exaggerated sense of authority and ability. Card maintains that he is "just a staffer responsible for other staffers," and implies that hubris poses a serious threat to effectiveness. Indeed, Card repeatedly called his service to three Presidents "not a job or career or occupation," but a great "privilege" that compels him to work especially hard. In keeping with that general outlook, Card describes the White House, from the President on down, as a disciplined and dedicated place (one, incidentally, where foul language and inappropriate attire are not permitted).
By the end of the evening, the audience in Aldrich gained a rare and impressive inside view of the workings of the executive branch at its highest levels, from one who knows.
Shifting to the bedrock principles of his relationship with President Bush, Secretary Card spoke of truth and trust. He made it clear that in order such a relationship to function properly, each person must consistently engage the other with extreme candor and forthrightness. In addition, the President must trust Card to deliver to him, and interpret, relevant information at the appropriate time - such as in the midst of a visit to a Florida elementary school when Card whispered into the President's ear that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center and that America was under attack.
The President must also trust that Secretary Card will exercise sound judgment, foresight and skill in discerning who ought to have access to him, and when. Given endless demand for the President's precious time, Card explained that he applies a "need versus want" test to those seeking to speak or submit a memorandum to the President: no matter how great the desire for the chief executive's attention, with Card as "gatekeeper," no time with the President will be scheduled in the absence of a genuine and sufficient need.
Considering the status and caliber of people who can vie for the President's attention, and given their areas or responsibility and influence, there can be little doubt that Secretary Card's role is a delicate one, and that the job entails enormous responsibility to the President and (by extension) the country. For these reasons, and because the White House Chief of Staff serves at the pleasure of the President, Card's "great fear" is that he will become the President's friend.
Secretary Card argues that a Chief of Staff who becomes too close to the President he/she serves will, by virtue of that bond, make it more difficult for that President to express displeasure with the Chief's performance. If poor performance is allowed to continue with no course correction or dismissal of the Chief, that President (and hence the American people) is undermined. Since it must be tempting for many to want to get close to the President, faithfully keeping the distance that Card advocates must not be easy.
A further pitfall that Secretary Card identified for Chiefs of Staff is "the temptation to be prime minister" - in this context, an official who ought not inhabit the American system, and someone rendered ineffective by an exaggerated sense of authority and ability. Card maintains that he is "just a staffer responsible for other staffers," and implies that hubris poses a serious threat to effectiveness. Indeed, Card repeatedly called his service to three Presidents "not a job or career or occupation," but a great "privilege" that compels him to work especially hard. In keeping with that general outlook, Card describes the White House, from the President on down, as a disciplined and dedicated place (one, incidentally, where foul language and inappropriate attire are not permitted).
By the end of the evening, the audience in Aldrich gained a rare and impressive inside view of the workings of the executive branch at its highest levels, from one who knows.
