Edward J. Rollins: Yes, Play Politics in the White House
[Edward J. Rollins, who managed Ronald Reagan’s 1984 presidential campaign, was the White House political director from 1981 to 1983 and from 1984 to 1985.]
NEARLY three decades ago another presidential transition was taking place after what was defined as a realigning election. In 1980, Ronald Reagan swept into office with a new Senate majority and a gain of more than 30 seats in the House to his party’s caucus.
One of the first moves Mr. Reagan made after his inauguration was to create the White House Office of Political Affairs. I am sure from George Washington forward politics has been conducted in the White House, but Mr. Reagan wanted the job out in the open and its activities open to scrutiny.
Unfortunately the office has been widely criticized during George W. Bush’s presidency, especially under the leadership of Karl Rove. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who has been the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, demanded that it be shut down. And the distaste for the office is bipartisan: John McCain said during his campaign that he wouldn’t have a political shop in his White House. (Then again, he barely had a political operation in his campaign and he wasn’t elected.)
President-elect Barack Obama, however, has not said that he will eliminate the White House political office. I hope that means he plans to keep it. Every White House needs a political operation.
In January 1981, Lyn Nofziger, Mr. Reagan’s longtime press secretary and political aide, and I became the first two people appointed to the White House political office. Lyn was Mr. Reagan’s first campaign hire in the 1966 California governor’s race and was his traveling companion for years. He knew everyone Mr. Reagan had ever met, and he knew every political promise he had ever made. The intent behind the creation of the political office was to take care of those supporters and to remember those promises....
Presidents don’t always make decisions based on politics, and they shouldn’t. But they do need to understand the political climate. Believe it or not, most people in a White House are not from the world of politics. They are lawyers and experts on the budget and foreign policy. They are supposed to be the best and the brightest, counseling the president without regard to the political consequences.
But they should never be so naïve that they think politics doesn’t matter....
Read entire article at NYT
NEARLY three decades ago another presidential transition was taking place after what was defined as a realigning election. In 1980, Ronald Reagan swept into office with a new Senate majority and a gain of more than 30 seats in the House to his party’s caucus.
One of the first moves Mr. Reagan made after his inauguration was to create the White House Office of Political Affairs. I am sure from George Washington forward politics has been conducted in the White House, but Mr. Reagan wanted the job out in the open and its activities open to scrutiny.
Unfortunately the office has been widely criticized during George W. Bush’s presidency, especially under the leadership of Karl Rove. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who has been the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, demanded that it be shut down. And the distaste for the office is bipartisan: John McCain said during his campaign that he wouldn’t have a political shop in his White House. (Then again, he barely had a political operation in his campaign and he wasn’t elected.)
President-elect Barack Obama, however, has not said that he will eliminate the White House political office. I hope that means he plans to keep it. Every White House needs a political operation.
In January 1981, Lyn Nofziger, Mr. Reagan’s longtime press secretary and political aide, and I became the first two people appointed to the White House political office. Lyn was Mr. Reagan’s first campaign hire in the 1966 California governor’s race and was his traveling companion for years. He knew everyone Mr. Reagan had ever met, and he knew every political promise he had ever made. The intent behind the creation of the political office was to take care of those supporters and to remember those promises....
Presidents don’t always make decisions based on politics, and they shouldn’t. But they do need to understand the political climate. Believe it or not, most people in a White House are not from the world of politics. They are lawyers and experts on the budget and foreign policy. They are supposed to be the best and the brightest, counseling the president without regard to the political consequences.
But they should never be so naïve that they think politics doesn’t matter....