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

by Chris Whipple

Praetorians”

Visigoths.”

Carter was arguably the most intelligent president of the twentieth century, whereas Reagan had once been called, unfairly, “an amiable dunce.” Yet in choosing Baker, Reagan had intuited something his predecessor did not grasp. As Reagan’s biographer Lou Cannon wrote: “He did not know one missile system from another and could not explain the simplest procedures of the federal government, but he understood that the political process of his presidency would be closely linked to his acceptance in Washington. In this he was the opposite of Jimmy Carter, who knew far more and understood far less.”

By contrast, Reagan’s agenda would be coherent: “We ought to have three goals, and all three of them are the economy,” said Baker.

‘This is how you handle it, and so on’—and he dismissed me.”

(In the classes they shared, Reich raised his hand a lot and often had the right answer; Hillary raised hers all the time and always had the right answer; Clarence Thomas never raised his hand; and Bill rarely showed up.)

“an iron fist inside a velvet glove.”

“All this stuff about style points and shit…if you’ve got the style points but you don’t got the substance, you know? You’d be like Odell Beckham Jr. Right?”

Faustian bargain.