President Bush Promises Cooperation

In order for there to be a smooth transition to a new president, the previous president and his staff has to be dedicated to helping his successor. Public statements by President Bush indicate that he is dedicated to just such a smooth transition. In a speech today to employees of the Executive Office of the President, President Bush remarked:

This peaceful transfer of power is one of the hallmarks of a true democracy. And
ensuring that this transition is as smooth as possible is a priority for the
rest of my presidency. We face economic challenges that will not pause to let a
new President settle in. This will also be America's first wartime presidential
transition in four decades. We're in a struggle against violent extremists
determined to attack us -- and they would like nothing more than to exploit this
period of change to harm the American people. So over the next 75 days, all of
us must ensure that the next President and his team can hit the ground running.
For more than a year now, departments and agencies throughout the federal
government have been preparing for a smooth transition. We've provided
intelligence briefings to the President-Elect, and the Department of Justice has
approved security clearances for members of his transition staff. In the coming
weeks, we will ask administration officials to brief the Obama team on ongoing
policy issues, ranging from the financial markets to the war in Iraq. I look
forward to discussing those issues with the President-Elect early next week.
Offices within the White House are at work preparing extensive transition
materials. We're preparing career employees throughout the administration to
take on added responsibilities to help prevent any disruption to the essential
functions of the federal government. Taken together, these measures represent an
unprecedented effort to ensure that the executive branch is prepared to fulfill
its responsibilities at all times. As we carry out this transition I know that
you will continue to conduct yourselves with the decency and professionalism you
have shown throughout my time in office.

So far so good with the Obama transition: a new chief of staff on board and the current president pledging his cooperation.

Obama Needs to Draw on Clinton Veterans

Although many are calling for President-elect Obama to bring new voices to his administration and turn away from experienced Clinton White House and administration veterans, this would be a grave error. There is a steep learning curve in the White House if you have never worked there before--particularly for the person that occupies the Oval Office. If the president's inner circle of advisers, headed by the chief of staff, do not have Washington or White House experience, serious errors will be made. One need only look at the chaotic early years of both the Carter and Clinton administrations to see that a new administration needs to draw experienced voices into high levels of the White House and administration.

If Rahm Emanuel does take the job he has reportedly been offered, this would be an excellent start to the transition. Emanuel is a White House and Congressional veteran. There is perhaps no better organized, more disciplined, more savvy Democrat in the Beltway. If he comes aboard, look for the senior positions in the White House to be filled quickly and have a number of Clinton veterans among them. Although some worry (including myself) that Emanuel's hard edge could cause problems within the White House (he is nicknamed "Rahmbo" afterall), Emanuel would be a loyal and fierce guardian of the president--perhaps the most underrated but most important role a chief of staff plays in a White House.

Smooth Transitioning: Using the Clinton Experience as a Model of What Not To Do

RAMPANT SPECULATION

It seems that over the last few days speculation is running rampant on who would populate a Barack Obama administration. Though much of this speculation has surrounded who would be tapped as chief of staff, the game has moved on to other positions. Ben Smith of Politico has an excellent rundown of the potential musical chairs that would take place in the event of an Obama victory.

Two strands run through all these various stories: 1) Obama would move with light speed to lock up his White House staff and cabinet; and, 2) an Obama administration would be dominated by former Clinton staffers. If true on both counts, this would be a smart move by the Obama folks.

LESSONS OF THE CLINTON TRANSITION

The Clinton transition was a disaster for a number of reasons, not least of which was because it moved at a glacial pace. The White House staff was not in place until just before the inaugural on January 20, 1993--far too late to properly organize for the flurry of events that will face the White House in just Week 1.

Also, because of the prejudices due to the perceived failure of the Carter White House, experienced Carter aides were essentially blacklisted from being hired at the outset of the Clinton administration. Instead, young campaign staffers who had never worked in Washington before or done much of anything in politics except working on campaigns were placed into all sorts of high level positions on the White House staff. Thus, the Clinton White House bus in those first days was driven by a bunch of youngsters who had just gotten their temporary licenses and were handed the keys to drive in a city in which they were unfamiliar. In other words: a recipe for disaster.

AVOIDING THE PITFALLS OF THE EARLY CLINTON YEARS

Obama and his team, if the reporting is correct, seems to have learned the lessons of the 1993 fiasco. Picking a team of experienced White House aides early is the surest way to hit the ground running. A drawback is that leaves only one bench of White House veterans for Obama to draw on: former Clinton officials. The Carter people, for the most part, are too old. The pace of the White House and the 80 hour work weeks dictates that the staff as a whole be younger, at least in many of the middle and lower rungs. However, this does not mean that an Obama White House would only have former Clintonistas in it. It would surely be peppered with campaign staff and Illinois loyalists. However, the Clinton folks would make up the largest contingent--as they should. A new White House needs to draw on veteran hands--people who know how the place operates and where the bodies are buried.

Who Am I? Why Am I Here?

Who am I? Why am I here? These lines were uttered by Admiral James Stockdale in his opening statement in the 1992 Vice Presidential Debate--perhaps the only memorable lines from any candidate during that event. My inaugural post will try to explain who, why, and what this venture is.

Who? My name is Dave Cohen and I am currently an associate professor of political science and a fellow of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at The University of Akron. The study, observation, and teaching of American Politics is my professional life. My area of specialization is the American presidency but I also follow the U.S. Congress and Ohio politics closely. I am currently co-authoring a book on White House organization and staffing and am focusing on the White House chief of staff in particular. I also was recently named VP in charge of programs for the Akron Press Club--a volunteer position that I find rewarding but it does keep me quite busy.

Ever since I was a small child I have had an affinity for presidents and the presidency. That affinity has not diminished as I have gotten older and I am as interested in the workings of the presidential institution as I ever have been. Thus we get to the why.

Why? The purpose of this blog is actually quite selfish--to provide an outlet for myself to post my observations on the American presidency and politics in general. It is hoped of course that others will find it entertaining and informative.

What? The blog will not be partisan and will not spout propaganda. Instead, I will strive my hardest to look in a critical, but unbiased way, at the institutions and actors in the Beltway and elsewhere. Much of what I will observe will involve the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; however, I will not hesitate to turn my eyes eleswhere. I will also not write in "academese" and instead make my posts intelligible for everyone, not just those crustaceans who work and live in the Ivory Tower. Anyone who knows me can tell you that though I work in a university environment, I am not a typical academic. When it comes to politics, I am fascinated by the real world of brass knuckle politics as it is actually practiced, not the kind of theoretical politics that most academics purport to study and explain. I will be asking many of my colleagues who teach at different institutions to post from time-to-time. They will be asked to do so from a non-partisan point of view as well.

Why now? I thought the conclusion of the 2008 election would be a good time to create the blog. The transition to a new administration is an incredibly important yet undervalued period in our representative government. A transition done well can be an immense boost for the incoming president (e.g., the first 6 months of Bush 43); a transition executed poorly can cause all sorts of needless headaches for the new president (e.g., first year of Clinton). As I am affiliated with a group of academics dedicated to making the transition smoother for the incoming president (White House Transition Project), I thought starting the blog at the beginning of this process made all sorts of sense.

I probably won't be posting much until after the election as I am slammed with work because of the election. I will try to post somewhat regularly after that. I will also start building the links and RSS feeds as we go along. I do hope you enjoy the blog.