Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush William J. Clinton Edward M. Kennedy Lloyd N. Cutler Falklands Roundtable Congressional Affairs Symposium |
On 30th Anniversary of the Carter Inaugural, a Look Back at Carter’s Early Governing StyleThirty years ago today, Jimmy Carter took the presidential oath of office, ending eight years of Republican administrations and pledging a new era of honesty and transparency in the first truly post-Watergate presidency. Although Carter was able to build an impressive record of legislative achievements over the next four years, his administration got off to a slow start as an ambitious list of priorities gave off the perception of a White House in disarray. Some scholars have blamed the lack of structure on Carter’s decision not to appoint a White House chief of staff in the early part of the administration. Instead, Carter said he preferred to have a small group of senior White House officials with unimpeded access to the Oval Office, an arrangement described as the "spokes of the wheel" concept. In his November 29, 1982 Carter Oral History Project interview, President Carter said, "I have never wanted a person under me to whom all of my chief advisors had to report and then have that one person report to me. Even now it would be absolutely incompatible with my concept of governing. . . . I wanted but seven or eight of my staff members to have unimpeded, direct access to me and not feel that they ever had to go through a chief of staff. I didn’t want a Sherman Adams in my office." In this audio clip, Carter discusses the governing philosophy behind his decision not to appoint a chief of staff, and his perspective on how this affected the functioning of the White House in the early phase of his presidency. Please click here to read the entire Jimmy Carter transcript. |
