THE WHITE HOUSE TRANSITION PROJECT 1997-2021

Smoothing the Peaceful Transfer of Democratic Power

REPORT 2021—10

WHITE HOUSE STAFF AND ORGANIZATION: TEN OBSERVATIONS

Martha Joynt Kumar, Director White House Transition Project

Smoothing the Peaceful Transfer of Democratic Power WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO THE WHITE HOUSE TRANSITION PROJECT. Begun in 1998, the White House Transition Project provides information about individual offices for staff coming into the White House to help streamline the process of transition from one administration to the next. A nonpartisan, nonprofit group, the WHTP brings together political science scholars who study the presidency and White House operations to write analytical pieces on relevant topics about presidential transitions, presidential appointments, and crisis management. Since its creation, it has participated in the 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, and now the 2021. WHTP coordinates with government agencies and other non-profit groups, e.g., the US National Archives or the Partnership for Public Service. It also consults with foreign governments and organizations interested in improving governmental transitions, worldwide. See the project at http://whitehousetransitionproject.org The White House Transition Project produces a number of materials, including: . White House Office Essays: Based on interviews with key personnel who have borne these unique responsibilities, including former White House Chiefs of Staff; Staff Secretaries; Counsels; Press Secretaries, etc. , WHTP produces briefing books for each of the critical White House offices. These briefs compile the best practices suggested by those who have carried out the duties of these office. With the permission of the interviewees, interviews are available on the National Archives website page dedicated to this project: . White House Organization Charts. The charts cover administrations from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama and help new White House staff understand what to expect when they arrive and how their offices changed over time or stayed the same. . Transition Essays. These reports cover a number of topics suggested by White House staff, including analyses of the patterns of presidential appointments and the Senate confirmation process, White House and presidential working routine, and the patterns of presidential travel and crisis management. It also maintains ongoing reports on the patterns of interactions with reporters and the press in general as well as White House staffing. . International Component. The WHTP consults with international governments and groups interested in transitions in their governments. In 2017 in conjunction with the Baker Institute, the WHTP hosted a conference with emerging Latin American leaders and in 2018 cosponsored a government transitions conference with the National Democratic Institute held in November 2018 in Montreal, Canada . Earlier White House Transition Project funding has included grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and The Moody Foundation of Galveston, Texas. THE KINDER INSTITUTE ON CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY. A central element of the University of Missouri’s main campus in Columbia, Missouri, the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy prepares students for lives of thoughtful and engaged citizenship by equipping them with knowledge of the ideas and events that have shaped our nation’s history. See more information on the Institute at: https://democracy.missouri.edu .

© White House Transition Project 1997-2021

For the White House Transition Project ii For the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy http://whitehousetransitionproject.org https://democracy.missouri.edu/ Martha Joynt Kumar, Director (202) 285-3537 Justin Dyer, Director (416) 832-2121 Terry Sullivan, Exec. Director (919) 593-2124 Smoothing the Peaceful Transfer of Democratic Power

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO II THE WHITE HOUSE STRUCTURE 3 1. White House Office Structures Rarely Change. 3 2. Organizational Flexibility: Layering in New Units and Hiring Outsiders. 3 3. Integrating the Vice President and First Lady into the West Wing. 4 4. Parties Organize Differently. 4 THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF 5 5. Leadership Staff Integration. 5 6. Stability of Top Leadership. 5 Table 1. Assistant to the President Titled Staff – Inauguration to August 31 Year Four 6 7. Three Types of White House Offices. 7 8. A Successful White House Staff Blends Five Types of Knowledge. 7 THE PRESIDENT 8 9. Staff Reflect a President: Strengths and Weaknesses. 8 10. Presidents Use the Resources and Style That Brought Them. 9 SUMMARY 10 CONTACT INFORMATION 10 APPENDICES 11

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Smoothing the Peaceful Transfer of Democratic Power

iv THE WHITE HOUSE TRANSITION PROJECT 1997-2021

Smoothing the Peaceful Transfer of Democratic Power

REPORT 2021—10

WHITE HOUSE STAFF AND ORGANIZATION: TEN OBSERVATIONS*

Martha Joynt Kumar, Director White House Transition Project The White House is the wheelhouse when it comes to presidential decision-making. People, policy, politics, and publicity all come together in the White House as a President establishes his leadership position and swiftly moves an agenda. It is for that reason presidents make early choices for key White House posts prior to choosing Cabinet members and their deputies. Departments and agency positions take time to fill and a President wants to proceed rapidly to take advantage of the good will that exists in the early days of an administration. In that effort, besides a President’s time, the second most valuable resource a President has is his staff. The organization of White House staff offices as well as where and how a President distributes coveted top positions are key to understanding White House operations as well as the President and his priorities. What follows are ten observations about White House staffing structures, staff members, and the impact of presidents on staff. Accompanying the staff discussion is a set of organization charts helpful to understanding the details of White House operations. Organization charts illustrate the staff choices presidents make. When Leon Panetta came into the Clinton White House as Chief of Staff, he saw a White House organization chart as a priority. “There was really no chain of command,” he said. “There was no organizational chart that you could point to. As a matter of fact, I asked the question about getting an organizational chart and there was none to be found. So, first and foremost, was the development of kind of a basic organizational chart. … How do I want to organize under the Chief of Staff. With deputies and then under them who should have responsibility. So, develop a real organizational chart as to who is responsible to who, and who supervises who, and to organize those responsibilities.”1 Because organization charts provide basic information, the White House Transition Project created overall staffing charts to see the staffing choices the last six presidents made. Because such charts did not exist, we created them from sources where we could find full listings of White

* Thanks to Terry Sullivan and Kathryn Dunn Tenpas for their helpful comments. 1 Interview Leon Panetta, Martha Joynt Kumar, White House Interview Program, Monterey Bay, CA., May 4, 2000. https://www.archives.gov/files/presidential-libraries/research/transition-interviews/pdf/panetta.pdf

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House staff, including internal White House phone books, National Journal’s Capital Source, and The Federal Yellow Book, which is now Leadership Connect. The Appendix has organization charts focusing on the overall White House staff operations of Presidents Trump (2017, 2019, 2020), Obama (2009, 2016), George W. Bush (2001, 2007) , and Clinton (1993, 1996). There is one each for George H.W. Bush White House (1992) and President Reagan (1987). We also have charts for the individual offices we study, which are found on our website. [For a full set of charts, go to: https://www.whitehousetransitionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WHTP2021- 100-White-House-Overall.zip]. Together, the charts demonstrate two aspects of White House organization.2 First, they illustrate the continuity of the White House offices under the six presidents and second, show how those presidents assigned their limited, but growing, number of commissioned staff, the highest ranking White House staff members. While there are at least 400 White House staff members, the leadership team is found among the commissioned staff. A President is limited by law and budget to 25 Assistants to the President, 25 Deputy Assistants to the President, and around 70 Special Assistants.3 How a President distributes staff among the offices reflects the chief executive’s organizational choices and, by inference, decision-making structure. Staff organization tells us who has access to a President and which offices are key to a President. Was there, for example, a strong Chief of Staff with political, communications, and policy planning units close-by as was the case with Leon Panetta in President Clinton’s White House in 1994- 1996, or, as in 1993-1994, the President’s choice to have many top advisers report directly to him? Such choices reflect important preferences about a President’s decision-making process, a significant element in understanding White House operations.

2 The White House Transition Project developed the organization based on White House phone books. Where we could locate them, we used internal White House phone books as the most complete source of White House information. The Obama White House no longer has internal phone books and we found only some years for the earlier administrations. Alternately as our next in priority, we used National Journal’s Capital Source, which published White House phone book information focusing on top and midlevel staff and issues of the Federal Yellow Book where we could find them. Capital Source regularly published from 1985-2007. Information on organization and staffing in the Obama and Trump White Houses comes from the Federal Yellow Book, and its successor, Leadership Connect. Sources for each of our organization charts are listed in the lower right hand corner of the individual charts. The organization charts are also available on our website: whitehousetransitionproject.org. 3 The relevant laws for White House staffing are: 3 USC 105. Assistance and services for the President. The numbers and salaries of Assistants are tied to the Office of Personnel Management’s Executive Level compensation. Executive Level II limits Assistants to the President to 25. Executive Level III has a maximum of 25 as well. Executive Level IV controls for Special Assistants and others covering a significant span of salaries and skills. Other laws relevant for White House staff hiring are: 3 USC 108. Assistance and services for the President for emergency needs; 3 USC 106. Assistance and services for the Vice President; 3 USC 107. Domestic Policy Staff and Office of Administration Personnel. 3 USC 3109 Employment of experts and consultants. The text of the statutory provisions can be found at: uscode.house.gov. The text of the statutory provisions is available at uscode.house.gov. The USC sections are referenced in the annual budget request in the Budget Appendix and the annual appropriations act which includes the EOP appropriation, currently the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Act. Find the FY2017 Appendix at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Appendix. The FY2017 text of the FSGG bill, as passed by the House, is available at Congress.gov by placing HR 5485 in the search box and then reviewing the EOP section.

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THE WHITE HOUSE STRUCTURE 1. WHITE H OUSE OFFICE STRUCTURES RARELY CH ANGE. Staffing structures are more similar than they are different. Over the past fifty years, continuity characterizes White House operations. Offices develop constituencies and once established, it is difficult to eliminate them even though a President could legally get rid of every office along with the career people who come with many of them. Experience demonstrates they do not do so because most have constituencies that outlast an administration. With a staff member first assigned in 1929 to deal with the press, for example, the Press Secretary is the longest continuing White House staff operation. That continuity reflects the mutual need of presidents and the press, a kind of dependence that exists with other offices as well. While White House offices are rarely eliminated, their reporting structure and duties can change depending in part on the nature of their constituencies and shifting presidential needs. Offices with specific, enduring constituencies, such as Legislative Affairs, have had similar organizational divisions, functions, and tasks across administrations. They have been divided into Senate operations and a similar stable of people shadowing the House of Representatives. Political Affairs, Communications, and Intergovernmental Affairs, however, have not had the same stability and have shifted back-and-forth from being independent offices to subunits within others. Communications is sometimes part of the Press Secretary’s operation, at other times under the leadership of a Counselor, and also as a separate Office of Communications. Intergovernmental Affairs, such as under President Reagan, has been a separate office and at other times, the Obama years are a good example, part of a more comprehensive office. In this case, part of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. The director responsible for intergovernmental affairs was titled at the Deputy Assistant to the President level as was the staff member responsible for the public engagement portfolio. 2. ORGANIZATIONAL FLEXIBILITY: LAYERING IN NEW UNITS AND H IRING OUTSIDERS. Rather than restructure White House operations, most presidents choose to layer new offices on to the existing White House framework. The greatest opportunity to make changes in White House organization comes in the early days, but the president and his staff rarely make major alterations to what they found when they came in. With a full policy agenda and pressure for a quick start, management structure is not a priority. Instead new offices find homes in existing ones. In the Obama White House, for example, staff added Digital Strategies into a previously existing White House communications structure rather than rethinking the whole communications foundation. Earlier, as television became a President’s most important channel to the public, presidents added broadcast units under an Office of Media Affairs that sometimes is in an Office of Communications and at others under the Press Office. Sometimes presidents get outside the traditional structure by adding consultants, committees, and councils to supplement the framework that preceded them. President Trump kept the basic offices and then created a bevy of White House councils to deal with specific issues. The American Innovation Council, the White House National Trade Council, the National Infrastructure Council, the Strategic Development Group, the American Technology Council, and the President’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, are new groups the President added to the White House structure. While the Election Integrity one did not survive, the others have been less important than the White House senior staff member responsible for specific councils. The American Innovation Council, for example, is in Jared Kushner’s portfolio. The

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President also added on consultants not tied to specific White House offices, such as Carl Icahn, Rudy Giulani, Corey Lewandowski, and Jason Miller. Having people come into the White House as special assistants for the early months is helpful when a new President is proposing policy initiatives at a time when there are few Senate confirmed officials in a department. Sometimes referred to as czars, White House staff with policy portfolios that can cut across offices. With health care an early priority, President Clinton hired Ira Magaziner to handle the issue. Even later in an administration, presidents add on top-level staff for short periods, as Obama did in 2014 bringing in Ron Klain to serve as the point person handling the administration’s response to the Ebola crisis. Clinton brought in Lloyd Cutler who served for five months as Counsel and, in 2020, Trump brought in his former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, for three months for his advice and public presence explaining Trump’s economic actions. 3. INTEGRATING THE VICE PRESIDENT AND FIRST LADY INTO THE WEST WING. Over the last fifty years, the staffs of the Vice President and First Lady, have gradually been integrated into West Wing operations and have become important sources of support for most recent presidents. The increase in commissioned staff assigned to the Vice President and First Lady speaks to the growing importance of the two positions as policy and campaign support operations for a President. As have other Vice Presidents, Mike Pence quickly organized his office with reporting lines for an office structure that mirrors many of the West Wing office units. When he was Vice President, Joe Biden had units within his office for a national security adviser, communications, legislative and political affairs, domestic and economic policy, intergovernmental and public liaison, and an office for Dr. Jill Biden. In contrast to the those of the Vice President, operations for the first lady do not mirror West Wing operations. While the Vice President is a key administration figure from the beginning of the administration, the same is rarely true for the First Lady. Often she has to press to have her staff included in West Wing meetings and activities. It was not until Hillary Clinton was First Lady that her Chief of Staff held the rank of Assistant to the President. While in the George W. Bush White House her Chief did not rise to the Assistant level until his second term. In the Obama and Trump White Houses, however, the First Lady’s Chief has consistently held the title of Assistant to the President. First Lady Melania Trump who lived in New York for the first five months, was slow to organize her operation. In a break with the patterns of recent first ladies, at the four-year mark the office does not have the policy focus it earlier had. With a staff of less than a dozen, First Lady Melania Trump’s office is about half of the size of the East Wing operation Michelle Obama had at the same time period. 4. PARTIES ORGANIZE DIFFERENTLY. There are some partisan differences in how a White House is organized, particularly in the first year. Republicans are more likely to set up their White House with a hierarchical structure with clear lines of reporting. Democrats come in with a more horizontal White House staffing structure. They tighten up their ship a year or so in. The contrast is clear in a comparison of the Clinton 1993 chart with several senior people reporting directly to him and the one in 1996 where the Chief of Staff had all reporting to him. With an interest in gathering information from wherever he could, President Clinton set up a system that reflected his interest in hearing from everyone. After a year and a half of a system where many staff had walk in privileges, Clinton brought in Leon Panetta as Chief of Staff to establish a more disciplined system. The Trump

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White House is an outlier in the Republican model as President Trump has allowed, and oft times encourages, his senior and sometimes deputy level staff to come in to the Oval Office without enforced access rules or even a guarantee that he would report his contacts to his chiefs of staff, especially his phone calls.

THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF 5. LEADERSHIP STAFF INTEGRATION. Prior to the Trump White House, there was a noticeable increase in top level staff with a recent concentration in the office of the Chief of Staff and, secondarily, a loss of top status for a few traditionally important offices. In the Carter and Reagan White Houses, there were respectively a maximum of 11 and 15 Assistants to the President. There are now a maximum of 25 filled at any one time with seven assigned in the last year of the Obama administration to the Office of Chief of Staff. Having more than a quarter of the Assistants to the President assigned to the Chief’s office means that other offices lose senior staff. Intergovernmental Affairs, for example, was not a top-level office in the Obama years nor was the Staff Secretary for part of that administration. In the Trump White House in the fourth year, both posts are at the Assistant to the President level. Generally, administrations have found that both offices are important for the management of decision-making and implementing policy at the ground level. While in the latter Obama years top level positions were concentrated near and around the Chief of Staff’s office, the same was not true in the first six months of the Trump White House. Under Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, there were many staff entry points to the Oval Office with President Trump encouraging people to come in and Priebus having little control over who had access to the President. 6. STABILITY OF TOP LEADERSHIP. While every president is going to make changes in his leadership staff, recent presidents have retained a significant number of their first year team into their fourth year. There is a natural staff attrition that takes place, but Trump’s rate of staff replacement is so great that only six of the Assistant to the President staff hired in his first year in office remained in the summer of Year Four. Out of the six remaining 41 first year hires, two of them – Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner – are family members. There is little continuity in the Trump staff, which makes it difficult to have a consistent set of priorities and initiatives as well as a constant series of practices implementing their policies. An unprecedented number of the top-level staff have cycled through the Trump White House. Seventy-seven individuals came in from January 20, 2017 to August 31, 2020. Three of them left only to return years later. In September and early October 2020, three additional Assistants came into the White House bringing to 80 the number of individuals appointed to the top position. Most of the six recent presidents had at least one-third of their first year staff remain midway in the fourth year. George H.W. Bush made a series of fourth-year August campaign- related appointments that dropped his numbers below 33%, but the other four presidents had a similar consistency in holding on to their leadership teams.

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Table 1. Assistant to the President Titled Staff – Inauguration to August 31 Year Four % of Assistants Hired in % and Total Number Y1, Y2, Y3 Number of of Staff (not Y4) Number of Total Number Assistant Staff Members Number Left or Y1 Assistant of Current Appointed in Hired in Y1 to Assistants Announced Staff Appointments Number of Y1 Who Left Serve in Named Leaving White Remaining to Assistant to Assistants White House Assistant During House by as of the President Serving on President by 8/31/Y4* Positions Y2/Y3/Y4* 8/31/Y4 8/31/Y4 Positions** 8/31/Y4

Trump* 85 % / 35 41 16/12/11 73% 6 80** 26 [50 of 69 hired] (15%) Obama 64 % / 20 31 8/6/5 56% 11 50 25 [25 of 45 hired] (36%) G. W. Bush 55 % / 11 20 6/3/0 41% 9 29 17 [12 of 29 hired] (45%) Clinton 50 % / 13 26 9/7/0 40% 13 42 25 [17 of 42 hired] (50%) G.H.W. Bush 71 % / 12 17 2/6/8 48% 5 33 20 [12 of 25 hired] (29%) Reagan 63% / 12 19 3/8/0 47% 7 30 16 [14 of 30 hired] (37%) * Year One for President Trump runs from January 20, 2017 to January 20, 2018 and a comparable period for earlier administrations. Also note for comparisons, the end of Y4 goes to August 31 for all presidents. ** Marc Short, Marcia Lee Kelly, and Hope Hicks are counted twice in the number of Assistant appointments made as they all left the White House and later returned.

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When turnover is viewed from the vantage point of positions in key White House offices, turnover in the Trump White House is even higher.4 No matter how one looks at the Trump White House, the turnover is unprecedented. 7. THREE TYPES OF WHITE H OUSE OFFICES. A well-functioning White House has three types of offices requiring staff with particular experiences and expertise: policy, process, external relationships. First, presidents need substantive policy experts in the areas of foreign, domestic, economic, and national security policy and have the Domestic Policy Council, the National Economic Council, and the National Security Council to cover those issues. Second, just as important are the process offices – Staff Secretary, Office of Management and Administration, Presidential Personnel, Counsel – that work on staff structure, staffing positions, decision-making, and policy implementation. Management is central to achieving policy goals and that means having these offices as frontline operations staffed by people who have the appropriate knowledge and management experience. Third, several White House offices are based on relationships with institutions and individuals outside of the White House. Legislative Affairs, Public Liaison, Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Press Office are keys to a President’s effectively using available resources, which works most effectively when the staff have credentials that include experience on the Hill, in lobbying operations, and working with news organizations. While presidents may have a different balance of where they concentrate their senior staff among these three types of offices, most often they learn the importance of each to the success of their policy and political goals. 8. A SUCCESSFUL WHITE H OUSE STAFF BLENDS FIVE TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE. The most effective systems are those that blend five types of knowledge. Those are knowledge of: the President, the campaign, the rhythms of a White House, substantive policy expertise, and the Washington community, including Congress, the press, interest groups. That balance gives a President a decision-making system that reflects his interests, one that has a memory of what the campaign goals were, one that reflects a sense of how White Houses have most often operated, one that contains the substantive knowledge presidents need to develop and follow up on their policy goals, and one that incorporates a sense of the Washington world a President needs to work in in order to meet his policy needs. As a business person with no experience in elective office, Trump brought people into the White House from his campaign, with few who had governing experience at the national, state, or local levels. There were some at the Assistant to the President level -Rob Porter, Steve Miller, Marc Short, John DeStefano - who worked for members of Congress, but most had no government experience where they could knowledgeably have a strong start with policy initiatives in place. While other presidents incorporated staff who previously worked for them, most had a head start in governing because the people they brought into the White House had worked in legislative and executive operations. President Obama brought in a government-tested staff from his Senate days, several of whom, Denis McDonough, Pete Rouse, Dan Pfeiffer, Phil Schilliro,

4 Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, the Brookings Institution political scientist writing on the presidency, tracks the turnover of 65 “A-Team” positions in the White House and the Executive Office of the President. As of October 7th, her tracker has a 91% turnover in the identified high-level Trump positions with Presidents Reagan through Obama at a significantly lower rate. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, “Tracking Turnover in the Trump Administration,” https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/. My tracker includes only Assistant to the President staff while the Tenpas tracker studies positions, which sometimes may be at the Deputy Assistant to the President level and at other times at the Assistant one.

8 White House Transition Project General Series had worked for Senator Tom Daschle when he was in the leadership. After his reelection loss, they migrated to Obama’s Senate staff and then came into the White House respectively in the areas of foreign policy, management, communications, legislative liaison. They joined people Obama had brought on to his Senate staff, such as Chris Lu who served as his legislative assistant and later in the White House as Cabinet Secretary, and Representative Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff. President George W. Bush hired staff who worked for him when he was governor of Texas. Clay Johnson, who handled personnel for Governor Bush, came with him to the White House as did his counsel, Alberto Gonzales, his Texas budget director Albert Hawkins, his political strategist, Karl Rove, and his communications person, Karen Hughes. He also brought in people with White House experience, such as his Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, Nick Calio as his liaison with Congress. There was a balance among both the Obama and Bush staff who knew their President, had experience on the campaign, time serving in a previous White House, in Congress and were familiar with the elements of the non-government Washington community – media, interest groups, the legal community, power players in both political parties - and had substantive knowledge and government experience in the key policy areas a President and his White House staff shape. Having an experienced and balanced staff gave both President George W. Bush and Barack Obama good starts though both faced difficult situations when they came into office. Bush took office after having won fewer popular votes than Al Gore with the election outcome resting on a Supreme Court decision. For Obama, the nation was facing a financial collapse that required quick policy action. Yet both men were able to get fast starts that provided them with early policy victories. Bush opened his first week working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on education reform. Each of his first weeks into the spring had a policy theme that was an administration priority, such as creating faith based offices, tax reform, military spending. For Obama, an early priority was the American Recovery Act, an economic stimulus bill that passed in February 2009 as well as early measures, including first week actions of executive orders on social issues and the President signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Well organized White House operations were an important part of the good starts both presidents had for their administrations. On the other hand, President Trump and his team got off to a rocky start the day after his inauguration. He gave a caustic speech to staff members of the Central Intelligence Agency followed by a hot-tempered speech by Press Secretary Sean Spicer criticizing White House reporters for not giving President Trump credit for having a larger crowd for his inauguration than Obama had in 2009. However, photos taken by the National Park Service from similar locations at the two inaugurations clearly showed a far larger crowd for President Obama. From their first day in office, neither the President nor his press secretary got off to a good start. In part that was due to not having an experienced staff with clear plans of what their agenda would be.

THE PRESIDENT 9. STAFF REFLECT A PRESIDENT: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. White House staff most often mirror the strengths of a President and rarely fill in for the person’s weaknesses. Presidents emphasize what they like and what they know. Building off his emphasis on communications, President Reagan had one of the strongest White House publicity operations in the modern presidency. President George H. W. Bush, who was particularly interested in foreign policy, but not communications, put a particular emphasis on redesigning a

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National Security Council operation under National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, a model subsequently used by most administrations. For President Trump, proven loyalty to him rather than a particular policy focus has been a key to hiring White House staff. Once hired, informal tests of loyalty continue throughout the tenure of White House staff members, including measuring their public and private comments regarding Trump and his actions. Reflecting a President can even involve his likes and dislikes as well as policies. White House staff don’t want to show space between themselves and their President on choices important to him. When the Coronavirus-19 struck, President Trump made clear he did not like wearing a mask and made fun of others who did, especially former Vice President Biden. His staff took their cues from him and did not wear one. Few visitors wore masks or respected social distance in White House events. Chairs were placed close to one another in the Rose Garden event on September 26, 2020 when President Trump introduced his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. When the President was hospitalized, and the First Lady and more than a dozen staff tested positive for the virus, staff began wearing masks. White House staff structure also reflects what may be the weaknesses of presidents and the environment they are operating in. In the Trump presidency, the White House staff structure captured the all-call nature of the President's Oval Office style. Trump enjoys having multiple people in his office and on the phone as he wants to hear from many voices and to do so on his terms. The result was an early White House structure with multiple senior aides reporting to the President without first going through the Chief of Staff. To a lesser extent, the same pattern of multiple people dealing directly with the President was true in the early Clinton administration. But Clinton soon recognized the need to tighten access to the Oval Office and developed a hierarchy that was complete when Leon Panetta came in as Chief of Staff. For Trump, the same pattern of disarray has prevailed through four chiefs of staff. Presidential words and actions can also upstage any well-laid organizational plans. Following President Trump’s tepid response to the death of a counter demonstrator and the wounding of others in an August demonstration countering a nationalist and anti-Semitic rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, many business executives quickly resigned from several of the councils, including the Trade and Manufacturing and the Strategic Development Group ones. Carl Icahn, who was acting as an unpaid consultant on regulatory reform also resigned his position. President Trump derailed his own organizational plans. 10. PRESIDENTS USE THE RESOURCES AND STYLE THAT BROUGH T THEM. Presidents bring in with them the emphasis and the tools that got them to the White House. President Obama’s mastery of digital strategies resulted in that campaign operation coming into the White House. In his reelection campaign, President George W. Bush had a strong rapid response operation, which he brought into the White House for his second term. For President Trump, Twitter is an important aspect of how he communicates with his constituents. He used Twitter to establish a narrative for his campaign press coverage and, once he became President, he continued to tweet about his election victory, his critics, and his reaction to the cable television programs he watched in the morning. During a campaign with a set of attention-grabbing themes and operating with a slim budget, Donald Trump’s tweets grabbed the attention of cable television news programs, so much so that there was little time to hear from his Republican competitors. Once he got to the White House, the President continued his tweets, much to the consternation of many of his allies and to the delight of others. With a background and interest in television and publicity for himself and his ideas, Trump acted as his own communications director. His interest in developing and directing his communications worked during the

10 White House Transition Project General Series campaign, but proved difficult for creating a consistent presidential narrative where the President and his staff had a coordinated message to deliver to the public and to use to bring together executive branch agencies. On several important occasions, such as in a 2017 interview with NBC’s Lester Holt where the President discussed why he fired FBI director James Comey, the President contradicted what the Press Secretary and other senior aides had said. In October 2020, when he was back at the White House following his hospitalization for Coronavirus-19, he tweeted that he was calling off economic stimulus negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. By the end of the day, the S&P 500 slid downward by 1.4%. Then later in the week, he reversed course calling for a stimulus bill. With many messages simultaneously coming out of the White House, a President who wants to direct his own communications, and, with a Gallup job approval rating that has not reached a 50% positive level in his four years in office, the Office of Communications has been under particular pressure for the whole four years. The administration has found it difficult to identify and then retain a Director of the Office of Communications. The position has had six announced directors: Jason Miller, Sean Spicer (twice), Michael Dubke, Anthony Scaramucci, and, on an interim basis, Hope Hicks. Similar positions but ones without clear supervision over a free- standing communications office, include Mercedes Schlapp, as Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications; Alyssa Farah, as Director of Strategic Communications; Bill Shine, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications with Dan Scavino later holding that title; and Stephanie Grisham as Press Secretary and Communications Director. Additionally, Sarah Sanders and later Kayleigh McEnany held the Press Secretary position, which sometimes competed with others in the communications areas. With so many staff members involved in communications, message coordination was particularly difficult.

SUMMARY White House staff are critical to the success a President has and, at the same time, reflect his strengths and weaknesses. The challenge for a President is to assemble a staff that will serve his policy and political interests as well as fill in for his weaknesses. Once he has that staff in place, it is important to establish order, have a clear direction on initiatives and priorities, and then have an effective coordination system between the President, White House officials, and the other power centers in Washington, including the congressional leadership, party members, and the bureaucracy. Not an easy recipe to follow.

CONTACT INFORMATION Martha Joynt Kumar, Director White House Transition Project https://whitehousetransitionproject.org 202-285-3537

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APPENDICES

Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President White House Office Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Donald Trump Advisor to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2020 Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President President Deputy Assistant Special Counsel to the President 1 Senior Advisor for Oval Office 1 1 Policy Operations 1 1* 2 Economic 1 Senior American Counselor 3 Innovation Initiatives & 1 1 Entrepreneurship 4* 2 1 Special Representative for International 1 4 Negotiations Chief of 2 2 1 1 Staff 6 1 1 2 3* 1 2 1 Usher’s 2* 1 1* 1 1 3 1* 1* 4 Office 7 2 1 3

Policy Press Appoint- Intergov’t Presid- Cabinet Commun- WH Military Mgmt & Public Advance Science & Political Legislative Staff Coord- Secretary ments & ential Affairs ications Counsel Office Admin Liaison Scheduling Tech Affairs Affairs Affairs Secretary Personnel ination 1 2 1* 1 1 1 1 WH House Presidential Media 1* Corres- 1* 5* 5 Personnel 1 4* 1 6* Liaison 1 1 Affairs 1* pondence 2 13* 1 9 WH Vacant Commissioned Positions Senate 1 Executive Research 1* Mgmt 2 Senior Counselor: 1 Assistant Liaison Clerk 9 American Innovation: 1 Special Assistant 1* Cabinet Affairs: 1 Deputy Assistant Speech- 2 1* Visitors Media Affairs: 1 Special Assistant Records writing Office 1 Research: 1 Special Assistant Mgmt 2 Digital Strategy: 1 Deputy Assistant Press Secretary: 1 Deputy Assistant Military Office: 1 Deputy Assistant Digital 1* Travel Management & Administration: 1 Special Assistant USPS Strategy Office 1 2 Advance: 1 Deputy Assistant; 2 Special Assistants WH Counsel: 1 Special Assistant; 1 Special Counsel Political Affairs: 1 Special Assistant Legislative Affairs: 2 Deputy Assistants House Liaison: 1 Deputy Assistant; 1 Special Assistant Senate Liaison: 1 Special Assistant Staff Secretary: 1 Deputy Assistant © White House Transition Project, 2020. Source: Leadership Connect Directory, 2020 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key National Economic Council, American Technology Council, First Lady, Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President Executive Committee for Presidential Information Technology, Vice Special Assistant to the President Advisor to the President President, National Science and Technology Council, & Domestic Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Policy Council Special Counsel to the President Donald Trump Deputy Assistant Special Counsel to the President Vacant Position 2020 * President

1 Vice President 4 2 1 Chief of Staff 1 Communications 1 2* 4* Executive American Trade & National Science National Committee for Domestic Policy Technology First Lady Manufacturing and Technology Economic Council Presidential Council Legislative Affairs Council Information Tech Policy Council 1 1 1 1* 2 Communications 1 2* National Security 1 10* 2 10

Scheduling & Advance 1 Second Lady 1 1 Social Secretary 1 Operations 1 2

Residence

Vacant Commissioned Positions Policy 1 National Economic Council: 2 Special Assistants First Lady: 1 Special Assistant Communications: 1 Assistant Public Vice President Engagement & 2 Communications: 2 Special Assistants Intergov't Affairs 1 Domestic Policy Council: 1 Deputy Assistant © White House Transition Project, 2020. Source: Leadership Connect Directory, 2020 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Donald Trump Special Assistant to the President Advisor to the President 2020 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Assistant Special Counsel to the President President * Vacant Position

National Security 2 Advisor 1

Climate & Global Health Atrocities National Security Prevention Security Agenda Homeland Security Interagency Advisor 1 Board Working Group Review Council Chief of Staff

Border & Defense Policy, Africa Asia Transportation Counterterrorism Cybersecurity WMD, & Arms Executive Europe, Russia, & Intelligence Security Policy Control Secretary Central Asia 1 1* 1 3 1 1 1

International International Middle East, North Records Access & Resource International Organizations & Africa, & Gulf Legislative Affairs Information Resilience Economics Energy & Legal Management Environment Alliances Region Security Mgmt 1* 1* 1 1* 1 1

Strategic Strategic Planning South & Central Western Vacant Commissioned Positions Communications Directorate Asia Hemisphere Affairs Asia: 1 Special Assistant International Economics: 1 Deputy Assistant 1 1 1* International Energy & Environment: 1 Special Assistant Middle East, North Africa, & Gulf Region: 1 Deputy Assistant Western Hemisphere: 1 Deputy Assistant

© White House Transition Project, 2020. Source: Leadership Connect Directory, 2020 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President White House Office Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Donald Trump Advisor to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2019 Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Assistant Special Counsel to the President * Vacant Position

President 1 Senior Oval Office Advisor for Operations 2 2 Policy Senior 1 1 2* American Economic Counselor 2 Innovation Initiatives & 1 1 Entrepreneurship 1 Special 2 2 Counsel 2 1 7 Chief of Staff 3 3* 1 1 1 5 2 1 1 3* Usher’s 1 1 1 1 Office 1 3* 1* 1 7 2 1 6

Press Appoint- Intergov’t Cabinet Commun- WH Military Mgmt & Public Advance Science & Political Legislative Staff Presidential Secretary ments & Affairs ications Counsel Office Admin Liaison Scheduling Tech Affairs Affairs Affairs Secretary Personnel

1 2 1 1 1 1 Presidential WH House 1 Media Corres- 2 4 3 1 Personnel 2 3* 1 6* Liaison 1 Affairs 2 pondence 1 16 Senate 1 8 WH Mgmt Executive Research 1 Liaison Clerk 1* 10 2

Speech- 2 Visitors Records Office 1 writing 3 Mgmt

Vacant Commissioned Positions Digital 1 Senior Counselor: 1 Assistant USPS Strategy 1 Communications: 1 Assistant Press Secretary: 1 Special Assistant Management & Administration: 1 Special Assistant Political Affairs: 1 Special Assistant Presidential Advance: 1 Special Assistant Public Liaison: 1 Deputy Assistant © White House Transition Project, 2020. Source: Leadership Connect Directory, 2019 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key National Economic Council, American Technology Council, First Lady, Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President Executive Committee for Presidential Information Technology, Vice Special Assistant to the President Advisor to the President President, National Science and Technology Council, & Domestic Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Policy Council Special Counsel to the President Donald Trump Deputy Assistant Special Counsel to the President Vacant Position 2019 * 1 2 1 Chief of Staff President 7* 2 Executive 1 National American Committee for National Science Domestic Policy Vice President Technology First Lady Presidential and Technology Economic Council Council Council Council 1* Information Tech 2 1 Trade & 1 Communications Manufacturing Communications 2 3 Policy 1 1* 8 Legislative Affairs Scheduling & Advance

National Security 1 Social Secretary 1

Second Lady 1

Operations

Residence

Policy 1

Vacant Commissioned Positions National Economic Council: 2 Special Assistants Public Trade & Manufacturing Policy: 1 Special Assistant Engagement & 1 Vice President: 1 Deputy Assistant Intergov’t Affairs 2 © White House Transition Project, 2020. Source: Leadership Connect Directory, 2019 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Donald Trump Special Assistant to the President Advisor to the President 2019 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Assistant Special Counsel to the President President * Vacant Position

National Security Advisor 2

Climate & Global Health Atrocities National Security Prevention Security Agenda Homeland Security Interagency Advisor 1 Board Working Group Review Council Chief of Staff

Border & Defense Policy, Africa Asia Transportation Counterterrorism Cybersecurity WMD, & Arms Emerging Europe, Russia, & Intelligence Security Policy Control Technologies Central Asia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1*

International International Middle East, North Records Access & Resource International Organizations & Africa, & Gulf Legislative Affairs Information Resilience Economics Energy & Legal Management Economics Alliances Region Security Mgmt 1* 1 1 1 1 1 1*

Strategic Strategic Planning Western South Asia Communications Directorate Hemisphere Affairs Vacant Commissioned Positions 1 1 1 1 Intelligence: 1 Special Assistant International Economics: 1 Deputy Assistant 2 Middle East, North Africa, & Gulf Region: 1 Special Assistant

© White House Transition Project, 2020. Source: Leadership Connect Directory, 2019 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President White House Office – July 27 Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Donald Trump Senior Advisor to the President Counsel to the President 2017 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Senior Counsel to the President Counselor to the President Oval Office 1 Operations Senior Counselor to the President 3 * Vacant Position 1 Senior † Position Counted Previously Advisor Senior Advisor 1 1 1 Ivanka Trump for Policy 4 1 WH Office Strategic 1 Counselor 1 6† of American Development Chief Strategist Innovation Group 1 Office of 2 3 Trade & 1 Manufacturing Policy 1 2* National Commun- Infrastructure 3 ications Strategic Comm 1 Council 5 Director

1 Digital Press Media Affairs 1 4 1 Secretary Strategy 3 Chief of Staff 1 1 1* 3 Usher’s 1 1 1 Office 2 2 1* 1 8 Public Cabinet Military Mgmt & Liaison/ Scheduling & Office of Political Legislative Digital Staff Presidential WH Counsel Intergov’t Science & Affairs Office Admin Advance Tech Affairs Affairs Officer Secretary Personnel Affairs 1 1 1 1 1 1 Photography Intergov't 1 Graphics & WH 1 5* Affairs 2 1 1 1 Office 2 House Calligraphy Personnel 1 10 5 2 Executive 1 Telephone Public Clerk Office Liaison 1 5* 2 Senate 1 Records 1 Visitor’s 2 Mgmt 13 Office Vacant Commissioned Positions Chief of Staff: 1 Assistant USPS 1 WH Counsel: 1 Deputy Assistant; 1 Deputy Counsel WH Management & Administration: 1 Deputy 6 Operations Digital Officer: 1 Deputy Assistant 1 Communications: 1 Assistant © White House Transition Project, 2017. Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Executive Committee for Presidential Information Technology, Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President American Technology Council, National Economic Council, Domestic Special Assistant to the President Policy Council, WH Consultants, WH Office of American Innovation, Senior Advisor to the President Counsel to the President & Vice President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Donald Trump Special Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President 2017 Senior Associate Counsel to the President Senior Counsel to the President Counselor to the President Executive Chief of Staff President Senior Counselor to the President Committee for * Vacant Position Presidential † Position Counted Previously Information American National Technology Domestic White House Office of the 1 Technology Economic First Lady Policy Council Consultants Vice President Council Council for: 1 Cybersecurity, 1 1 1 International 1 Scheduling & Negotiations, Advance 3 1 2 1 Regulatory 11 1 Reform 1 Counsel

Admin

National Security Advisor 1

Domestic Policy 1

Communications 1 2

Public 1 Engagement 1

Legislative Affairs

Second Lady 1 3 Pres. Advisory Commission on © White House Transition Project, 2017. Election Integrity Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Donald Trump Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President 2017 Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Senior Counsel to the President Counselor to the President President Senior Counselor to the President * Vacant Position † Position Counted Previously

National Security Advisor 2

Homeland Security 1 Advisor 1 1 Chief of Staff

Defense Policy, Strategic Planning Access WMD, & Arms Western Europe, Russia, & Legal Directorate Management South Asia Asia Africa Hemisphere Central Asia Control 2 1 1* 1* 1

Middle East, North Strategic International Transborder Strategic Initiatives Counterterrorism Cybersecurity International Africa, & Gulf Intelligence Organizations & Group Policy Policy Economic Affairs Communications Security Policy Region Alliances 3† 1 1 1 1 1 1† 1

Records Resource Legislative Affairs Resilience Policy Management Management

Vacant Commissioned Positions Africa: 1 Special Assistant © White House Transition Project, 2017. Western Hemisphere: 1 Special Assistant Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President Barack Obama Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2016 Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

President

1 Oval Office 7* Operations 2 6 Staff 1* Chief of Staff Secretary 1 12 4* Deputy Chief 1 1 1 1 of Staff for Operations Records Executive 1 1 6 1 1 1* 1 Mgmt Clerk Pres Corresp. 1 4 2* 9 1* 2 1 1 Public Engage. Olympic, Political Press Commun- Legislative Cabinet Mgmt & Paralympic, & Pres Appts. & Scheduling & Pres Personnel Strategy & Secretary ications WH Counsel Affairs Affairs Admin & Intergov’t Scheduling Advance Affairs Youth Sport Outreach 1 1 1 1 1 1 Speechwriting House Liaison WH Intergov’t 1 Affairs 1 2 2 3* 4 Operations 2 2 3 Digital 1 Strategy 1 Senate Liaison WH Urban Affairs 1 4 Personnel

Media Affairs Photography Public 1 Office Engagement 2 Research 1 Telephone Office

Travel Office

Visitor’s Office Vacancies Chief of Staff: 3 Assistants; 1 Deputy; 2 Special Assistants Communications: 1 Special Assistant Communications – Speechwriting: 1 Special Assistant White House Counsel: 2 Deputies; 2 Special Assistants; 2 Deputy Counsels; 2 Associate Counsels Legislative Affairs: 1 Special Assistant Management & Administration: 1 Assistant

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: Federal Yellow Book, Winter 2016 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key First Lady, Vice President, Domestic Policy Council, & Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President National Economic Council Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President Barack Obama Counsel to the President 2016 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Chief of Staff Counselor to the President * Vacant Position 1 Deputy Chief of 1 Staff for Policy 2 1* 1 National Office of the First Office of the Vice 3 Domestic Policy Economic Lady President Council Council 9 1 1 Director of Chief of Staff Energy & Climate Communications 1 1 Change 1 3 2 8 Faith-Based & Scheduling & Communications Advance 1 1 Neighborhood 1 Partnerships

Intergovernmental Social Secretary 1 Affairs & Public 1 Health Reform 2 Engagement

National Security National AIDS 1 Policy

Social Innovation Policy 1 & Civic 1 Partnership

Office of Dr. Jill 1 Biden 1

Legislative Affairs

Vacancies Office of the First Lady: 1 Associate Counsel Counsel

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: Federal Yellow Book, Winter 2016 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Barack Obama Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President 2016 Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

National Security Advisor 2

Homeland Security Advisor 1

Chief of Staff 1 1 1* 4 1* Defense Policy, Africa Asia Counterterrorism Cybersecurity Energy & Europe, Russia, International Legal Policy WMD, & Arms Climate Change & Central Asia Economics Control 1 1 1 1 1 1 2

Multilateral Legislative MENA & Gulf Strategic Strategic Planning Resilience Transborder W. Hemisphere Affairs Region Affairs & South Asia Human Rights Communications Directorate Policy Security Policy Affairs 1 2 1 1 1* 1* 1 1* 1 1

Vacancies Legal: 1 Deputy; 1 Associate Counsel Strategic Planning Directorate: 1 Special Assistant South Asia: 1 Deputy Transborder Security Policy: 1 Special Assistant

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: Federal Yellow Book, Winter 2016 Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President Barack Obama Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2009 Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President President Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Oval Counselor to the President Office 1 * Vacant Position Operations Staff 4 Secretary 1 1 1 Chief of 3 Staff 1 Deputy 14 2 Chief of Records Executive Pres Staff for Mgmt Clerk Corresp. 1 1 1 Operations 4 1 1 2* 1

Intergov’t Appts. & Mgmt & Pres Cabinet Chief Info Strategic Commun- WH Legislative Health Press Disability Political Public Sched- OFBNP1 Advance Initiatives ications Counsel Affairs Reform Secretary Policy Affairs Liaison Admin Personnel Affairs Officer Affairs uling 1* 1 1 1 1 2* 1 Commun- House Mgmt 2* ications 1 Liaison 5 Office 2* 2* Speech- 1* Senate Photo. writing Liaison 5 Office

Media Travel Affairs Office

New Visitor’s Media Office

WH Personnel 1*

Vacancies Strategic Initiatives: 1 Assistant; 2 Deputies; 2 Special Assistants WH Communications – Speechwriting: 1 Special Assistant Phone Management & Administration: 2 Special Assistants Service Management & Administration – WH Personnel: 1 Special Assistant Presidential Personnel: 1 Special Assistant Advance: 2 Special Assistant

1: Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships © White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: Federal Yellow Book, Spring 2009 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President First Lady, Vice President, & Office of Admin Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Barack Obama Senior Advisor to the President Counsel to the President 2009 Associate Counsel to the President 1 Deputy Counsel to the President Chief of Staff Special Counsel to the President 1 Deputy Associate Counsel to the President Counselor to the President 1 * Vacant Position

Office of the Office of the Vice First Lady President Admin

Press Secretary Chief of Staff Director 2 1 1

Small & Disadvantaged Economic Policy Business Utilization 1 Office

Chief Financial National Security Officer

Intergovnmental & Chief Information Public Liaison Officer

Chief Operating Domestic Policy Officer

Human Resource Political Affairs Management

Library & Research Legislative Affairs Service

Communications

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: Federal Yellow Book, Spring 2009 Key Assistant to the President Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President George W. Bush Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2007 Deputy Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

President

1 Senior Oval Office 2 Advisor Operations 3 Chief of Staff 1 2 Staff Secretary 1 Strategic 2 Initiatives Political Public Intergov’t 1 Affairs Liaison Affairs *** 2 Pres. 1 Records Exec. Clerk 1 1 Corresp. Mgm’t. 1 2

WH Press Legislative Cabinet Counselor Faith-Based Mgm’t. & Pres. Counsel Secretary Affairs Liaison Office Scheduling Advance Initiatives Admin. Admin. Personnel 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 3 8 2 2 1 Comm. 2 7 Military 1 1 Office Speech- 2 writing 2 WH Mgm’t. Media 1 ***Karl Rove served as Assistant to the Affairs President, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Senior Advisor. He is counted here in his role as Photo 1 Deputy Chief of Staff.”

Source: National Journal, Capital Source ‘07 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff First Lady, Vice President, Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, Homeland Security Council George W. Bush Key 2007 Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Chief of Staff Deputy Counsel to the President Counselor to the President 1 1 * Vacant Position Homeland Office of First 1 Domestic Policy 1 1 Office of VP 1 NEC 1 Security Council Lady Council 4 7 5

Director of Labor, Comm. Chief of Staff Transportation, U.S. Post

Press Secretary Staff Secretary Education

Scheduling & Advance General Counsel Health

Welfare, Housing, Counselor’s District of Social Secretary 1 Office Columbia

Speechwriting Justice

Legislative Affairs

Homeland Security

Domestic Policy

Operations

Office of Mrs. Cheney

Advance

Source: National Journal, Capital Source ‘07 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President National Security Council Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President George W. Bush Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2007 Deputy Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position National Security 1 Advisor

Chief of Staff

Counter- Defense Policy, Global Combating Africa Asia proliferation WMD, & Arms Democracy Europe Intelligence Terrorism Strategy Control Strategy 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Systems & Internal Iraq & Press & Records & Access South & Central Western Economic Affairs Afghanistan Speechwriting Legislative Affairs Mgmt. Technical Hemisphere Asia Planning 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Source: National Journal, Capital Source ‘07 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President George W. Bush Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2001 Deputy Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

President

Oval Office 1 Senior 1 Advisor Operations Chief of Staff 1 3 Staff Secretary 1 2 Strategic Political Public 2 Initiatives Affairs Liaison Pres. Records Exec. Corresp. Mgm’t. Clerk 1 1 1 2

Faith- WH Legislative Cabinet Intergov’t Press Based Mgm’t. & Pres. Counsel Affairs Affairs Affairs Secretary Counselor Scheduling Advance Admin. Personnel Initiatives 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 9 1 1 1 * 1 1 1 0

Military 1 Comm. 2 Office

Global WH 1 comm. Mgm’t.

Speech- 1 writing 3 Office of 1 Vacancies: Admin. Advance- 1 Special Assistant Media 1 1 Affairs Source: Bureau of National Affairs, White House Telephone Directory, ‘01 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff First Lady, Vice President, Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council Key George W. Bush Assistant to the President 2001 Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Chief of Staff Counselor to the President * Vacant Position 1 1 Office of First Domestic Policy 1 Office of V.P. NEC 1 Lady Council 1 2 7 Director of 1 Comm. Chief of Staff Education Policy

Press Secretary Public Affairs 1 Domestic Policy, Education

Scheduling & Advance General Counsel Budget 1

Legislative Affairs Health 1

Domestic Policy

National Security

Correspondence

Operations

Advance

Office of Mrs. Cheney

Military Aides

Scheduling

Source: Bureau of National Affairs, White House Telephone Directory, ‘01 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President National Security Council Special Assistant to the President George W. Bush Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President 2001 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

National Security 1 Advisor 1

Chief of Staff

Democracy, Defense Policy & European & Foreign Policy Intelligence Administration African Affairs Asian Affairs Human Rights & Arms Control Intl. Operations Eurasian Affairs Speechwriting Programs 1 1 1 1 3 1

Nonproliferation, Intl. Health Near East and Western Legal Office Legislative Affairs North African Counter- Transnational Hemisphere Affairs proliferation & Public Affairs Threats Affairs Homeland Defense Affairs 1 1 1 1 1

Source: Bureau of National Affairs, White House Telephone Directory, ‘01 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President George W. Bush Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 2001 Deputy Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

President

Oval Office 1 Senior 1 Advisor Operations Chief of Staff 1 3 Staff Secretary 1 2 Strategic Political Public 2 Initiatives Affairs Liaison Pres. Records Exec. Corresp. Mgm’t. Clerk 1 1 1 2

Faith- WH Legislative Cabinet Intergov’t Press Based Mgm’t. & Pres. Counsel Affairs Affairs Affairs Secretary Counselor Scheduling Advance Admin. Personnel Initiatives 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 9 1 1 1 * 1 1 1 0

Military 1 Comm. 2 Office

Global WH 1 comm. Mgm’t.

Speech- 1 writing 3 Office of 1 Vacancies: Admin. Advance- 1 Special Assistant Media 1 1 Affairs Source: Bureau of National Affairs, White House Telephone Directory, ‘01 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff First Lady, Vice President, Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council Key George W. Bush Assistant to the President 2001 Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Chief of Staff Counselor to the President * Vacant Position 1 1 Office of First Domestic Policy 1 Office of V.P. NEC 1 Lady Council 1 2 7 Director of 1 Comm. Chief of Staff Education Policy

Press Secretary Public Affairs 1 Domestic Policy, Education

Scheduling & Advance General Counsel Budget 1

Legislative Affairs Health 1

Domestic Policy

National Security

Correspondence

Operations

Advance

Office of Mrs. Cheney

Military Aides

Scheduling

Source: Bureau of National Affairs, White House Telephone Directory, ‘01 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President National Security Council Special Assistant to the President George W. Bush Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President 2001 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

National Security 1 Advisor 1

Chief of Staff

Democracy, Defense Policy & European & Foreign Policy Intelligence Administration African Affairs Asian Affairs Human Rights & Arms Control Intl. Operations Eurasian Affairs Speechwriting Programs 1 1 1 1 3 1

Nonproliferation, Intl. Health Near East and Western Legal Office Legislative Affairs North African Counter- Transnational Hemisphere Affairs proliferation & Public Affairs Threats Affairs Homeland Defense Affairs 1 1 1 1 1

Source: Bureau of National Affairs, White House Telephone Directory, ‘01 © White House Transition Project, 2016. Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President Bill Clinton Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 1996 Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Special Associate Counsel to the President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Assistant Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position 1 President

3

Office of the 2 1 Special Envoy 1 Oval Office 1 Operations 2 1 1 Chief of Staff Staff Secretary Strategic Planning Speechwriting & 1 3 & Comm Research 1 1 1 1 Records Mgmt Executive Clerk Presidential 1 1 1 10 1 Correspondence 1 6 1 2 2 1 4

Scheduling & WH Press Office Cabinet Affairs General Counsel Mgmt & Admin Intergov’t Affairs Legislative Affairs Political Affairs Pres Personnel Public Liaison Advance 1 1 1 1 3 Media Affairs & WH Military News Analysis Office 1 4 3 1 3 6 9 5 3 4

WH Operations

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: Bureau of National Affairs, White House Phone Book, Feb. 7 1996 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President First Lady, Vice President, Domestic Policy Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Council, National Economic Council Senior Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Bill Clinton Associate Counsel to the President 1996 Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Special Associate Counsel to the President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Chief of Staff Assistant Counsel to the President 1 Counselor to the President * Vacant Position Office of the Office of the Domestic National National Drug Science & First Lady Vice President Policy Council Economic Control Tech Policy Council 1 2 1 1 Office of Mrs. 2 Gore 1 2 1 4 6 Advance 1

Chief of Staff & Admin 1

Commun- ications

Corresp- ondence

Domestic Policy

Legal Counsel

Legislative Affairs

National Performance Review

National Security

Scheduling © White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1996 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Bill Clinton Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President 1996 Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Special Associate Counsel to the President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Assistant Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position

1 National Security Council 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Central & Eastern Defense Policy & Democracy, Human Global Issues & African Affairs Asian Affairs Europe Arms Control Rights, & European Affairs Multilateral Affairs Intelligence Programs Humanitarian Affairs

Inter-American Russian Ukrainian Strategic Planning Environmental Near East & South Nonproliferation Public Affairs Affairs Legislative Affairs Asian Affairs & Exports Control & Eurasian Affairs & Speechwriting Affairs 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

International Administrative Records Access White House Counselor Economic Council Legal Advisor Office Management Situation Room 1 1

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1996 Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President Senior Advisor to the President Bill Clinton Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 1993 Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Special Associate Counsel to the President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Assistant Counsel to the President 1 Counselor to the President 1 * Vacant Position 1 President 1 1 1 1 1 Chief of Staff Staff Secretary 1 1 2 1* Records Executive Corresp- 1 7 Mgmt Clerk ondence 1 3 1 1 1 Cabinet Commun- Public Political Intergov’t Legislative Pres Scheduling & National Enviro. Mgmt & WH Press Affairs ications WH Counsel Liaison Affairs Affairs Affairs Personnel Advance Service Policy Admin Office 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Research 1 Admin 1 3 1 3 3 2 1 1 1 3 1 1 Media Affairs 1 2 2 Operations

Speech- writing 1 WH Military 1

WH Operations

Vacancies WH Counsel: 1 Deputy Counsel

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1993 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President First Lady, Vice President, Domestic Policy Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Council, National Economic Council Senior Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Bill Clinton Associate Counsel to the President 1993 Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Special Associate Counsel to the President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Chief of Staff Assistant Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position Office of the Office of the Domestic National National Drug Science & First Lady Vice President Policy Council Economic Control Tech Policy Council 1 1 1 1 Office of Mrs. 2 Gore 2 2 2 8 Chief of Staff & Admin 1

Advance

Commun- ications

Corresp- ondence

Domestic Policy

Legal Counsel

Legislative Affairs

National Performance Review

National Security

Scheduling © White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1993 Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President Bill Clinton Senior Advisor to the President Counsel to the President 1993 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Special Counsel to the President Special Associate Counsel to the President Senior Associate Counsel to the President Assistant Counsel to the President Counselor to the President * Vacant Position 1 National Security Council 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Defense Policy & Global Issues & African Affairs Asian Affairs Arms Control European Affairs Multilateral Affairs Intelligence Programs Inter-American Affairs

International Trade & Near East & South Asian Russian, Ukrainian, & Investments Legislative Affairs Affairs Eurasian Affairs . Hemisphere 2 1 2 1 Affairs

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1993 Key Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President White House Office Special Assistant to the President George H.W. Bush Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President 1992 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Physician to the President * Vacant Position

President 1

1 1 Chief of Staff 1 1 Staff Secretary 1

1 Pres Records Corresp. Exec Clerk Mgmt

Drug Presidential Science & Pres. Legislative Cabinet Policy Press Mgmt & Pres National Counsel Control Comm. Appt. & Technology Advance & Affairs Affairs Planning Policy Secretary Scheduling Policy Initiatives Admin Personnel Service 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 5

1 Media 1 Military 1 Affairs Office 1

1 Speech- 1 Medical writing Unit 1 1

Office of Operations 1

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: National Journal, Capital Source, 1992 Key Assistant to the President Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Deputy Assistant to the President First Lady, Vice President, Economic and Domestic Policy Council Special Assistant to the President Special Advisor to the President George H.W. Bush Counsel to the President 1992 Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President Physician to the President * Vacant Position

Chief of Staff

Office of First Economic and 1 Lady Office of VP Domestic Policy 1

Director of Chief of Staff Policy 1 Comm. Development

Domestic 1 Press Secretary Staff Secretary Economic Policy

International Scheduling & Advance Domestic Policy Economic Policy

National Security Agriculture, 1 Affairs Trade, & Food

Energy & Military Aides Natural 1 Resources

Press Secretary Legal Policy

Scheduling & Health & Social Public Liaison Services

Communications Education Policy

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: National Journal, Capital Source, 1992 Key Assistant to the President Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Deputy Assistant to the President Special Assistant to the President National Security Council Special Advisor to the President George H.W. Bush Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President 1992 Deputy Counsel to the President Physician to the President * Vacant Position

1 National Security 1 Advisor 1 1

Chief of Staff

Defense Policy & Arms European & Eurasian Africa Asia Press & Speechwriting Control Affairs Intelligence

1 1 1 2 1

International Economic Legislative Affairs Near East & South Asian Affairs Latin American Affairs Affairs International Programs

1 1 1 1 1

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: National Journal, Capital Source, 1992 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President White House Office Deputy Assistant to the President Ronald Reagan Special Assistant to the President 1987 Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President * Vacant Position President 2

1 1 Counsel to 1 Office of 1 President Chief of Staff Operations 1 6 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 6

Commun- Political & Private Sector Cabinet Presidential Pres Appts & Presidential Military Intergov’t Legislative Affairs Admin Public Liaison ications & Advance Scheduling Personnel Office Press Secretary Affairs Initiative Planning Affairs 1 1 1 1 1 Speech-writing 1 Info Political 2 2 3 & Research Management Affairs 1 2

Media Integov’t 1 Affairs Relations 1 3

Public Affairs 1

Television Office 1

News Summary

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1987 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key First Lady, Vice President, Science & Technology, Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President Domestic Affairs, & Policy Development Special Assistant to the President Ronald Reagan Special Advisor to the President 1987 Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President * Vacant Position Chief of Staff

Office of the First Office of Science and Office of the Vice Lady Technology Policy President Domestic Affairs Policy Development

1 2 2 Projects Counsellor

Social Secretary Scheduling

Press Secretary Advance

Legislative Affairs

Operations

Mrs. Bush’s Office

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1987 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Ronald Reagan Special Assistant to the President 1987 Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President * Vacant Position

1 National Security Council 1 3

1 1 1 1 1 1

International Economic European & Soviet MENA & South Affairs Legislative Affairs Asian Affairs African Affairs Affairs Asia Affairs Defense Policy

International Latin American Affairs Arms Control Intelligence Programs Programs/Tech Affairs . Hemisphere 1 1 1 1 Affairs

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: The Capital Source, National Journal, Fall 1987 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key White House Office Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President Ronald Reagan Special Assistant to the President 1981 Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President * Vacant Position

President

Deputy Chief of Chief of Staff Counselor to the 1 Staff President 1

1 1 1

Counsel to the Presidential Policy Admin Communications Public Liaison Press Secretary Legislative Affairs Political Affairs Intergov’t Affairs President Personnel Development 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Speechwriting News Summary & Research & Audio Service 2 1 3 3 5

Media Relations & Planning

Public Affairs

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: National Journal, Fall 1981 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key First Lady & Vice President Assistant to the President Deputy Assistant to the President Ronald Reagan Special Assistant to the President 1981 Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President 1 Chief of Staff Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President * Vacant Position

1 Office of the Vice President Deputy Chief of Staff

Office of the First Lady

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: National Journal, Fall 1981 Commissioned Officers and Similarly Titled Staff Key Assistant to the President National Security Council Deputy Assistant to the President Ronald Reagan Special Assistant to the President 1981 Special Advisor to the President Counsel to the President Associate Counsel to the President Deputy Counsel to the President * Vacant Position

1 National Security Council 2 1

Planning & Evaluation Freedom of Defense Policy Cluster Intelligence Cluster Cluster Political Affairs Cluster Special Projects Info/Affairs Admin

Security Situation Room Info Management

© White House Transition Project, 2016. Source: National Journal, Fall 1981