The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency

by Chris Whipple

Carter had acquired but pointedly eschewed any inclinations in that direction.” Jordan was a precociously brilliant political strategist, and a perfect complement to the pious, high-minded candidate. “Carter, who wanted to be simultaneously above and a part of politics, saw it only as a means to an end,” writes Bourne. “Jordan…enjoyed politics and had little compunction about doing what was necessary to win.” In 1972, two years before Carter launched his almost laughable campaign for president, Jordan composed a fifty-nine-page memo, spelling out how and why he would win, a blueprint that would become legendary: I believe that you should attempt to develop the image of a highly successful and concerned former Governor of Georgia and peanut farmer living in a small rural town, speaking out on the pertinent issues of the day. Once your name begins to be mentioned in the national press, you will not lack for invitations and opportunities to speak to major groups and conventions. “He had the most brilliant strategic mind I ever encountered,” says Gerald Rafshoon, who would join the Carter White House as communications director. Irreverent, self-deprecating, and rakish, Jordan had a loyal following. James Fallows, Carter’s twenty-five-year-old speechwriter at the time, says Jordan’s dirt-behind-the-ears persona was appealing. “He was often portrayed as being the undisciplined rube, sort of the Burt Reynolds or Dogpatch