The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency is the best book I’ve read this year. Chris Whipple gives an inside view of American history through the lens of White House Chiefs of Staff, and sources include interviews with some great stories as well as notes from internal meetings. Before each new administration, all of the Chief of Staff alumni (both parties) come together to give advice to the new Chief of Staff. 

Chiefs of Staff are a fairly new position in the White House, and Richard Nixon was the first President to employ one. The Chief of Staff role is arguably the most important/most powerful non-elected position in the U.S. Government. I never considered the role a Chief of Staff might have on enacting legislation and generally managing the White House. The book goes through interviews with every Chief of Staff from Nixon’s to Trump’s, and Whipple provides a balanced perspective on the effectiveness of each staff/administration. 

Themes throughout the book

• Campaigning is different than governing.
• Your hometown team of advisors and strategists will help the President get elected, but they will probably cause headaches and/or trouble for the President in DC. 
• The Chief of Staff’s power is derived from the President.
• If the President loses trust in a Chief of Staff, the man (no women have served in the role yet) won’t be in the role much longer. Two years is the average length of time for most Chiefs of Staff, and the role includes heavy burnout. 
• The President’s time is the most valuable asset in DC.
• The Chief of Staff has to keep Presidential priorities in order and allocate time and meetings accordingly. Without a gatekeeper, it is hard for an administration to drive focus and attention to the appropriate spaces.

Quotes

“The White House chief translates the president’s agenda into reality. When government works, it is usually because the chief understands the fabric of power, threading the needle where policy and politics converge. Without Jim Baker’s deft touch at managing the White House, the press and Capitol Hill—and the president’s warring advisers—there would have been no Reagan Revolution.”

“You do not serve your president well if you are just a yes man,” explains Baker. “That’s not what presidents need; that’s not what presidents want. One of the things I am most proud of is that all of the presidents I have worked for have said, ‘Jim Baker was able to tell me what he really thought, whether I wanted to hear it or not.’ You have to be willing to do that. You have to be willing to speak truth to power.”

“In campaigning, you try to demonize your opponent. In governing, you make love to your opponent. That’s how you put coalitions together.”

“On a state visit to England, Baker and Deaver arranged for the president to go horseback riding with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle. When the time came, the queen’s horse took off at a gallop—farting uncontrollably. Reagan and his horse rode just behind. Upon their return, the queen stammered, “Mr. President, I am so terribly sorry.” Reagan smiled and cocked his head. “That’s funny,” he responded. “I thought it was the horse.”

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