Governing the White House: From Hoover Through LBJ
- ISBN-10
- 0700606890
- ISBN-13
- 9780700606894
- Category
- Biography & Autobiography / Presidents & Heads of State
- Pages
- 372
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1995
- Publisher
- University Press of Kansas
- Authors
- Charles Eliot Walcott, Karen Marie Hult
Description
Charles Walcott and Karen Hult maintain that the organization of the White House influences presidential performance much more than commonly thought and that organization theory is an essential tool for understanding that influence. Their book offers the first systematic application of organizational governance theory to the structures and operations of the White House Office.
Using organizational theory to analyze what at times has been a rather ad hoc and disorganized office might seem quixotic. After all, the White House Office exists within a turbulent political environment that encourages expedient decision-making. And every four to eight years it must be "reinvented" by presidents who have their own theories and preferences about how to organize a staff to serve their policy needs.
But Walcott and Hult argue that White House staffs are not simply puppets of presidential preference and style. Yes, staff structures evolve primarily from presidents' strategic responses to external demands. But those structures in turn significantly influence how the executive branch perceives and responds to further demands.
The first part of their book lays out the theoretical argument. The second examines White House "outreach": congressional liaison, press relations, personnel selection, executive branch oversight, and interest group and intergovernmental liaison. The third focuses on White House handling of policy development and implementation. The fourth analyzes staff structures that facilitate the operation of the presidency itself: presidential writing and scheduling, staff management, and cabinet coordination. The book concludes by identifying general patterns in the emergency, nature, and stability of governance structures in the White House.
Original and instructive, Governing the White House provides a much-needed primer on the inner workings of the White House staff and will be an essential volume for anyone studying the presidency.
Get the book
Similar books
-
刘邦传
By 李莉这戚姬年轻美貌,能弹会唱,能歌善舞,且又知书识字,所以一到栎阳,便美倾后宫,技压群芳。刘邦本就是个好色之人,得姬如此,怎不令他心悦,于是,渐渐冷落众美,专宠戚姬,不管走到哪里,常将戚姬带在身边。一日,御史大夫周昌有事要面奉刘邦,趋入殿内没找到皇帝, ...
-
刘秀传
By 李莉班彪的回答,论述了周、汉废兴具体形势的不同;说明王莽专权,是成帝以后特殊情况所造成的;在这里阐释了反莽斗争中"咸称刘氏,不谋同辞"这种人心思汉现象的实质,即汉德复兴,势不可当。应该说,班彪的回答就像是对隗当头浇了一盆凉水。对于这个回答,隗嚣自然极 ...
-
光绪传
By 董春燕于是光绪帝同翁同和等相商,决意采纳杨、徐的奏请,颁诏定国是,推行变法新政。但是,作为这样一件大事,在采取行动之前,光绪帝又要亲往颐和园向西太后请示。西太后毕竟是很有政治手段的清王朝"太上皇"。而且由于她"已许不禁皇上办事,未便即行钳制"。
-
The Quotable Jefferson
By Thomas Jefferson"Succeeding admirably in condensing the best quotes from around twenty thousand letters, this book will awaken some readers to the wit and wisdom of Jefferson, and enable others to rediscover it.
-
Behind the Scenes. by Elizabeth Keckley. Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.
By Elizabeth KeckleyBehind the Scenes. by Elizabeth Keckley. Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.
-
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: 1873
By Ulysses Simpson GrantInaugurated for a second term on March 4, 1873, Ulysses S. Grant gave an address that was both inspiring and curiously bitter.
-
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: 1875
By Ulysses Simpson GrantThis is my ground, and I am sitting on it.” In May, Sioux leaders traveled to the capital, where Grant renewed efforts to persuade them to relocate to Indian Territory, “south of where you now live, where the climate is very much better ...
-
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: January 1-October 31, 1876
By Ulysses Simpson GrantAfter whites massacred black militia in South Carolina, Grant warned that unchecked persecution would lead to "bloody revolution." As violence spread, Grant struggled to position limited forces where they could do the most good.
-
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: November 16, 1864-February 20, 1865
By Ulysses Simpson GrantDuring the winter of 1864–65, the end of the Civil War neared as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant maintained pressure against the dying Confederacy.
-
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: June 1, 1871-January 31, 1872
By Ulysses Simpson GrantIn his third annual message to the nation, Ulysses S. Grant stated the obvious: "The condition of the Southern States is, unhappily, not such as all true patriotic citizens would like to see.