The Executive Office of the President was established in 1939, but has grown dramatically since then. The Executive Office of the President, also known as the White House staff, plays a very important role in politics today. The White House staff has a tremendous workload, is very politicized, and rarely last two terms. The White House Chief of Staff plays a crucial role in the White House and Washington. Without the White House staff the presidency would change greatly. They are key to everyday operations of the executive branch. How manageable is the workload of the White House staff? What makes it more or less manageable? The White House staff workload is extremely difficult to manage. Linda Douglass was a communications aide at the white …show more content…
Gregory Craig says, “No matter what the job, each administration is different from the last administration, so everybody is learning the job from the beginning and there’s enormous pressure to get it right.” (NYTimes Obama) However, the job can become more difficult based on the country’s current situation. When the Obama administration took over the country had been through a recession, and was currently involved in the War on Terror in Iraq (NYTimes Obama). This alone would be giant pressure for the White House Staff, but they also had to deal with the overhaul of the nation’s health care system (NYTimes Obama). When a country is experiencing great change or economic distress this greatly increases the workload of the White House Staff, and makes it even more …show more content…
The president decides his policies and strategy for his term in office. The White House Staff is present to help implement the president’s policies smoothly, and help many aspects of his presidency run smoothly. It is important that the White House speaks with one voice, and this is accomplished through following the president’s policies. While the staff does not choose the tasks they preform, but they do run the day-to-day operations of the office. This is why the president will choose someone he trusts to preform the tasks well, and the way he would want. At the beginning of a term the president is more likely to choose individuals who believe in the promises he ran his campaign on (National Journal). However, later in his term the president will often fill these positions with people who are loyal (National Journal). This will decrease friction and disagreement within the White House, and help promote a single message. Obama, in his second term, has been filling key staff positions with people loyal to him. This is to create a unity between himself and his staff. He will be facing a Republican held house and senate. Obama will be busy fighting with congress, and does not need fighting within his own staff. Individuals who have positions that deal with the press must be saying things the way the president wants. Speechwriters must articulate the message and use the language the president wants. The president has
In the position of President of the United States, stressful and important decisions are put in front of the President on a daily basis. Due to the stressful situations, the president has a personal White House staff that helps him or her with these every day decisions. The staff has a pretty big influence on the President. The staff does not make the final decisions however. They help the President understand each situation to the fullest and make sure that the each side of his decision is realized, and also that the consequences of a decision is
Stephen Skowronek writes about political time and how one can determine the legacy president will leave behind at the time their presidency is done. The president has immense powers when he comes to office but the challenges they each face vary depending on the time they take office. Skowronek analyzes and demonstrates that the most essential factor for a president to attempt to legitimize his actions and orders will be the actions of the president before him. According to the actions of George W. Bush is how we can determine where Barack Obama falls under and following the chain the next president. If Hillary Clinton were to win the 2016 election she would fall under the politics of articulation and Barack Obama would fall under the politics
Of the most powerful people in the world, the President of the United States of America hits the top of the list. Even though the policy agendas that presidents set as they take office often go unfulfilled, the office of President is still one of the most envied spots to have. But why could this be? It is because the United States is the most powerful nation in the world and with the President as the leader, he is said to have the most power in the world ("Top Ten Most Powerful Countries in the World"). With power comes responsibility and with this position he must govern a country while abiding by the rules.
.... Having many roles offers the opportunity for staff members to become overwhelmed and dissatisfied. Dr. Mork mentioned that staff support is imperative.
During peacetime, the President is given other authorities by Congress. One of these authorities that he/she has is that they can initiate the reorganization of the white house staff. However, they can only rid themselves of a certain amount of people. They can’t totally reorganize the staff such as getting rid of whole agencies and departments. T...
President Obama was no different. Five weeks after the election, President Obama met with his economic and political advisors that presented him with their reports of the rapidly deteriorating economic conditions and their plan to hinder the economy from collapsing. President Obama delegated the legislative work to party members and committees because, as a former legislator, he believed that giving Congress discretion in writing the bill would contribute to its enactment (Wayne, 2013). “In general, crises, when they first occur, enhance opportunities for presidential leadership” Stephen J. Wayne stated in Rivals of Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations. “Members of Congress, much like the general public, look to the president and rally behind him” (Wayne, 2013). At first, president Obama hit the ground running after he won the election, and immediately started to figure out with his advisors on how to get the United States back on its feet again. And Congress members look up to the president just as much as American citizens do when the United States faces a crisis. Which in turn can boost the president’s and Congress’ relationship to American citizens. However, Obama’s operating style spawned criticism from both the Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats companied that he did not give much support for their
The presidency of the United Sates of America has been an evolving office since the term of our first president, George Washington. This evolution has occurred because of the changing times and the evolution of society itself, but also because of the actions of the men who have become president. Starting in the 20th century, most have referred to the presidency as the modern presidency due to changes in both a president's power and the way that the office itself is viewed. As the office of the president has evolved so has who can become president evolved. Yet, even today there are certain individuals who because of their gender or race have yet to hold the office of the presidency. The men that have been president in our modern era have all had faults and greatness, some having more of one than of the other. The modern presidency is an office that many aspire to, but that few hold. The evolution of the office of the presidency has been one from that of a traditional role to that of a modern role that is forever evolving.
The Executive Branch role is crucial operation of the executive branch is to assure that laws are carried out and enforced and aid the day to day responsibilities of the federal government to include “collecting taxes, safeguarding the homeland and representing the United States political and economic interests around the world” (Phaedra Trethan, 2013).
The main powers of the executive branch rest with the President of the United States of America. Powers granted to him by the constitution include serving as commander in chief of the armed forces; negotiating treaties; appointing federal judges, ambassadors, and cabinet officials; and acting as head of state. The president also has a cabinet which includes officials such as the attorney general and the secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, Interior, Agricu...
The American Presidency is undoubtedly one of the most widely recognized popular icons throughout the world. Although to most foreigners or those who have never resided in the United States or know little of its history, the executive branch of government may seem to be as dull and unyielding as the rest of the American politics, for those few rare individuals who have taken the time to examine and closely scrutinize this office of the American political system and its recent history, quite the opposite will be said. Unlike Congressional or local elections where typically a number of individuals of the same ideological background must be elected in order for a particular issue to be addressed by the government, when it comes to the presidency, one person, although checked by various other divisions of the same government, has the power and responsibility to literally, as history has proven, change the world. The American people, "like all people everywhere, want to have our (political) cake and eat it too. We want a lot of leadership, but we are notoriously lousy followers" (Genovese). In other words the expectations the public has of the executive office are ever-changing since we demand that our leaders keep up with the evolving world around us and them. Throughout the past seventy eventful years alone, the American people's views, perceptions and demands of the Executive Office of American government have evolved simultaneously with the political and social events of that same time period.
The President of the United States is instrumental in the running of the country. He serves as the chief executive, chief diplomat, commander in chief, chief legislator, chief of state, judicial powers, and head of party. Article II of the Constitution states that the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. He also is tasked with the authority to appoint fifteen leaders of the executive departments which will be a part of the President’s cabinet. He or she is also responsible for speaking with the leaders the CIA and other agencies that are not part of his cabinet because these agencies play a key role in the protection of the US. The President also appoints the heads of more than 50 independent
Understanding and evaluating presidents’ performance often poses challenges for political experts. The nation votes one president at the time and each presidency faces different tests. The environments surrounding a presidency have a tremendous impact on the success and failure of that presidency. In addition, the president exercises his power through a check and balance system embody in the Constitution. As stated in (Collier 1959), the Constitution created a government of “separated institutions sharing power.” As a result, a president works with others institutions of the government to shape the nation’s agenda. Thus, determining a presidential performance becomes difficult, especially when it comes to comparing the performance among presidencies.
The White House requires all of its employees to work closely with ethics counsel to ensure compliance and has aggressively required employees to recuse or divest where the law requires.'
To demonstrate the totality and the need for a holistic approach, below is an illustration showing the pressure on a large organization (Werther & Chandler, 2006)
Executive Office of the President. (March, 2010) “Work-Life Balance and the Economics.” Viewed March 4, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/100331-cea-economics-workplace-flexibility.pdf