In the Shadow of the Presidency: Presidential Management and the Influence of Cabinet Secretaries
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In the Shadow of the Presidency: Presidential Management and the Influence of Cabinet Secretaries by John C. Koehler A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama May 7, 2016 Approved by Gerard S. Gryski, Chair, Curtis O. Liles Professor Emeritus of Political Science Cynthia Bowling, Professor of Political Science Linda Dennard, Professor of Political Science William Franko, Assistant Professor of Political Science Abstract Scholars today recognize weaknesses in the president’s ability to pass significant legislation. I ask how presidents can increase their overall influence. They must look internally at their management style and the organization of the Executive Branch. They must also improve their relationship with other political actors, namely Congress and interest groups. Several studies have looked at presidential organization focusing on White House staff and other parts of the Executive Office of the President, such as the Office of Management and Budgeting. I suggest that cabinet secretaries are an overlooked presidential resource. How helpful a resource are cabinet secretaries and how can they be utilized? It depends upon a president’s management style – their level of involvement and the level of clarity with which they give direction. This study provides a typology of four different managerial approaches of modern presidents and analyzes four cases to highlight the importance of cooperation and coordination with Executive Department heads in policy-making. I conclude that secretaries can help the president influence Congress and interest groups. The working relationship that the president has with their cabinet members affects how an administration makes decisions, which proposals it supports, as well as the legislative success of those proposals. In cases where the president is not actively engaged with the cabinet member in creating the initiative and collaborating on a political strategy, the president is more likely to allow Congress to alter the bill or have a weak bill initially, leaving the cabinet member and their department, highly disappointed. In cases where the president is ii proactive in a policy’s development and the legislative process, the resulting bill is more identical to the department’s proposals and a more substantive victory for the president. iii Acknowledgements Thank you to my committee members: Cindy Bowling for guiding me through the PhD program for five years and providing calm; Linda Dennard for helping me maintain my idealism; Bill Franko for guidance, friendship, and for providing the literature that began this study; and David Carter for his outside perspective, compliments, and exceptional effort in the eleventh hour . Thank you, Gerry Gryski, for volunteering to be my chair and sacrificing the early years of your retirement. You believed in me when others said that my idea was too ambitious and difficult. Thanks for your confidence, your advice, and for allowing me the freedom to do what I thought was right, you have been a great mentor. Thank you to the faculty and staff in my department, especially, Mitchell Brown, Steve Brown, Ms. Phillis Hodge, and Ms. Arnita France. Thank you to Associate Dean Paula Bobrowski and to Jay Lamar for making it all possible. Thanks to past professors who were an inspiration at various times in my academic career: Robin Fiore, Eric J. Hanne, Lee Metcalf, and Robert Rabil. Thanks to the Gerald Ford Foundation for their support. Thanks to the staff at the presidential libraries of Ford, Carter, and Johnson for all of their assistance and to Lafayette College for the Simon papers. Thank you to those who have commented on this project, particularly Karen Hult and Jose Villalobos. The most thanks goes to my family, the Koehlers and the Hartzogs, for their love and support. Thank you, my beautiful wife Jessica for making this possible and giving encouragement and to Baby Evan for making me a proud and happy daddy. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix Chapter I: Scholarship on the Presidency ...................................................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................1 Literature Review .........................................................................................................................3 The State of the Field and Trends in Current Literature ..........................................................3 Presidential Resources and Limitations ...................................................................................6 Agenda Setting ........................................................................................................................10 Cabinet Scholarship and Characteristics of the Cabinet .......................................................10 Cabinet Relations with the President .....................................................................................13 Organization of Study .............................................................................................................15 Chapter II: Research Methods ...................................................................................................17 Objectives of Study ....................................................................................................................17 Significance of Study .................................................................................................................18 General Expectations ..................................................................................................................20 Methods ......................................................................................................................................27 Case Selection ............................................................................................................................28 Methods of Analysis ...................................................................................................................30 Secondary Questions ..................................................................................................................39 Sources .......................................................................................................................................40 Chapter III: Case Study: Eisenhower and Civil Rights ...........................................................42 Introduction ................................................................................................................................42 Eisenhower and Brownell ..........................................................................................................43 Management Style ......................................................................................................................45 Development of Civil Rights Policy ..........................................................................................48 Debate within the Administration ..............................................................................................51 v The Legislative Process, 1956 ....................................................................................................55 The Legislative Process, 1957 ....................................................................................................59 Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 ....................................................................................68 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................68 Chapter IV: Case Study: Gerald Ford and Energy ..................................................................72 Introduction ................................................................................................................................72 Background ................................................................................................................................73 Cabinet Secretaries Involved ......................................................................................................75 Rogers C.E. Morton ................................................................................................................75 William E. Simon ....................................................................................................................75 Transition and Organization .......................................................................................................76 Executive Directors Seidman and Zarb ..................................................................................83 Ford’s Policy Goals ....................................................................................................................88