© Courtesy of Associated Press. FILE - New White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients attends an event with President Joe Biden to thank White House Chief of Staff Ron Klein in the East Room of the White House on February 1, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, files)WASHINGTON (AP) - It's been called the worst job in Washington. The gatekeeper of the world's most powerful leader. The President's Alter Ego or Chief Spearman.
The job of White House chief of staff is central to the foundation of the federal government, but it's a role that remains opaque outside Washington circles. The latest person to hold that title is Jeff Zients, a longtime Washington staffer with a reputation as a master of management who became President Joe Biden's second chief of staff last week.
© Associated Press FILE - President Joe Biden listens during a thank-you ceremony for White House Chief of Staff Ron Klein, right, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on February 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, files)Sen. Mitt Romney, D-Utah, said the White House chief of staff is like "the country's chief operating officer."
© Courtesy of Associated Press chiefs of staff"He's not the biggest problem solver. He doesn't need to do the analysis, and he has plenty of other people to do that," said Romney, who considered him as chief of staff when he was a Republican presidential nominee. was in 2012. . "But he has to run a government, and that's a job that very few chiefs of staff have real experience with."
What does a White House Chief of Staff actually do?
Literally, the West Wing chief of staff, Zients, makes sure that the trains run on time and that the president is well supplied by aides. Science is what gives the president options for any executive decision.
The chief of administration regulates the access of the president and is responsible for the implementation of the administration's intentions. The principal assistant to the president is part of the cabinet and must liaise well with other department heads to ensure that everyone is on the same page. The job involves juggling several competing constituencies and often being the one to say no.
© Courtesy of the Associated Press FILE - President-elect Bill Clinton hugs Chief of Staff Thomas "Mac" McLarty during a press conference in Little Rock, Arkansas on December 12, 1992. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)In a 2005 Washington Post article, Andy Card, who served President George W. Bush for nearly six years, compared his approach to running a kitchen. Top priority was given to the front and back burners of the stove, and long-term work was hidden in the freezer.
"I described it as a wind tunnel," said Mack McLarty, the first chief of staff in President Bill Clinton's administration. McLarty recalled Howard Baker, the president's chief of staff, announcing that he was preparing to take office. During Ronald Reagan's second term, there was no worse job in the nation's capital.
In his first 10 days on the job, Zients had to juggle long-planned White House priorities (a planned trip to Poland to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine) and unexpected challenges (several unidentified objects dropped by Ukraine) balance. bring heaven). Overall, Zients' main goal in preparing the president for a likely re-election campaign is to successfully implement many of the historic bills Biden signed into law in his first two years.
© Courtesy of Associated Press. FILE - Reince Priebus, President Donald Trump's chief of staff, attends an event in the East Room of the White House on June 5, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, file)"As a team, our approach to getting results for the American people will be simple," Zients wrote in a memo to White House staff on his first day as chief of staff. "We must aggressively and fairly implement the president's policies, make sure Americans get those benefits, and clearly communicate what we've accomplished on behalf of ALL Americans."
The new chief of staff, who was an original investor in the Washington Bagel Shop, immediately revived an old tradition from his previous White House job: bagel Wednesdays.
Those who have served as a White House chef de cuisine, as well as those who studied under them, can point to a number of qualities that are key to success: experience in previous administrations, familiarity with Capitol Hill, leadership acumen, and political acumen. . . Also: a temperament that does not succumb to the whims of the news, and does not forget the close personal relationship with the President.
According to Chris Whipple, who has written extensively about the role of "The Gatekeepers", former chiefs of staff with these characteristics include James Baker, Reagan's first chief of staff; Leon Panetta, Clinton's second chief of staff; and Ron Klein, who recently left the White House after serving as Biden's chief of staff for the first two years.
© Associated Press FILES - Massachusetts Republican presidential candidate and former governor Mitt Romney speaks to reporters on his campaign plane en route to Denver, Sept. 23, 2012, while Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, listening, right. (AP Photo/Charles Darapak, files)"Every president learns - sometimes the hard way - that he cannot govern effectively without empowering the White House chief of staff, first among his peers in the West Wing, to push his agenda and say what he does not want to hear ,” he said. he said Whipple spent a lot of time with Klein on his latest book, The Fight of His Life.
Panetta, who will serve as CIA director and secretary of defense under President Barack Obama, agrees.
© Associated Press FILE - Outgoing White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, left, looks on as President George W. Bush speaks in the Oval Office of the White House March 28, 2006 in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Darapak, files)"I think the success or failure of any government depends a lot on that person's relationship with the president," Panetta said in an interview. "For any head of government to do his job, he must have the confidence of the American president, and both must be able to trust each other."
Romney said Mike Leavitt, the former Utah governor and Bush health secretary who led Romney's potential transition team, or recently retired Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, as chief of staff if Romney wins the presidential election. He said both have "extraordinary management skills".
© Courtesy of Associated Press chiefs of staffPanetta also stressed the importance of White House chiefs of staff maintaining close ties to Capitol Hill, which advance or hinder many of the administration's goals. Zients has never served in Congress, although Republican lawmakers have praised Biden for leading the White House's COVID-19 response team.
Lawmakers "can set the tone for what happens outside the White House on that particular day, whether it's a good day or a bad day," Panetta said.
© Courtesy of Associated Press chiefs of staffAs for those who were unsuccessful in that role, Whipple pointed to Mark Meadows, the last chief of staff in President Donald Trump's administration, noting that Meadows' refusal to say who did and did not have access to Trump led to the president's dismissal. strangest wishes
"Star Wars opened the doors wide open in this bar, where characters parade around the oval, from Rudy Giuliani to Sidney Powell, the pillow man," Whipple said, referring to Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow. trump card Giuliani was Trump's personal attorney, while Powell was a lawyer on Trump's legal team who was fired after spreading baseless conspiracy theories after the 2020 election.
© Associated Press FILE - Incoming Chief of Staff Jeff Zients talks with White House Director Ron Klein, left, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)Whipple also said that Donald Reagan, Baker's successor under Reagan, served the president poorly when the Iran-Contra affair engulfed the Reagan administration and considered himself a prime minister with little interest in the "personal" party . Reagan, who died in 2003, feuded with First Lady Nancy Reagan, who helped oust him in 1987.
When choosing a chief of staff, presidents sometimes choose someone with whom they have a long relationship. McLarty was a classmate of Clinton's in Hope, Arkansas. Klein spent decades with Biden on Capitol Hill, serving as a campaign adviser to Biden's previous vice presidential candidates and serving as chief of staff when Biden was vice president.
Trump went the opposite way with his first chief of staff, choosing Reince Priebus, who was the Republican National Committeeman in 2016. Priebus fought to unite opposing factions in the White House. He never overcame the deep-seated suspicions of Trump's supporters, who saw him as a staunch supporter of the beleaguered party establishment. Priebus was unceremoniously fired via tweet six months into Trump's tenure.
© Associated Press FILE - Former Utah governor and Bush cabinet secretary Mike Leavitt, right, with Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in front of a campaign plane in Newington, New Hampshire, before taking off on a campaign flight to Dubuque . , Iowa. Saturday November 3, 2012. Leavitt also heads Mitt Romney's transition team. (AP Photo/Charles Darapak, files)At an event honoring Klein, Biden showed the importance he places on the head of his administration, saying the president is "only as good as your team."
The White House Chief of Staff is one of the few most influential positions in government held exclusively by whites. Asked last month whether Biden would choose someone who is not white or male if given the chance to choose another chief of staff, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre declined to answer.
But he said the current government was "the most diverse in history" and "we expect this trend to continue".
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