Managing the President's Message: The White House Communications Operation

2. The Communications Operation of President Bill Clinton

The Communications Operation of President Bill Clinton A study of the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations demonstrates the consistent ingredients in a White House communications operation and identifies some of the differences. Both administrations worked with basic communications office units, in particular the Office of Communications and the Press Office, but did so in ways that reflected their presidents and the ways in which they came into office. Each had an effective communications operation, but at different points in their terms and at times when particular strengths were called for. The Clinton operation was especially effective at flexibility and adaptation, while the Bush one is noted for the success of its discipline and planning operation, particularly in the president’s first term. While the operation that George W. Bush put in place was ready when he came into the White House, the same was not true for President Clinton. It took some time for the Clinton communications operation to evolve into its eventual shape. When President Clinton took office in January of 1993, his cabinet was in place, but his White House staff was afloat. Most of them received their assignments less than a week before the inauguration. All but a few spent months getting a feel for their jobs and learning how to work with one another. Confusion existed in the first year of the administration about Hillary Clinton’s role in the governing process. Vice President Al Gore was a key player too, as he was the only one on the team who had congressional experience. Since staff members were expected to work on many different issues, they were neither restricted to certain realms of responsibility nor generally assigned to specific meetings. As the administration progressed, this free-floating system acquired a strong chief of staff who tightened up the organization and emphasized planning. The Clinton communications operation reflected these general pat2 34 Managing the President’s Message terns of organizational development. In the early days, when there was little staff focus on planning, the communications operation also tended to be ad hoc. The vagueness and overlap in staff assignments were also reflected in the communications area, with George Stephanopoulos both functioning as the director of communications and handling press secretary responsibilities, such as conducting daily afternoon press briefings. In addition, he worked on policy decisions. Although the communications system tightened up, there was never one person or a single organizational unit in charge of presidential publicity . It remained a team effort, with Clinton himself involved in all of the central decisions about policy and publicity. Most of these decisions were made in group meetings, such as the residence meetings and the early morning sessions organized by successive chiefs of staff. Both policymaking and communications decisions were carried out by clusters of staffers assigned to handle particular issues. While they became better at planning out their events, the clusters were best known for their ability to respond to events quickly. Their ability to deal with unfolding developments in the presidential campaign in 1992 became the characteristic strength of this administration’s communications operation. Whether promoting particular policies or dealing with an arising scandal, its communications clusters made effective use of both President Clinton and his staff. Coming into Office President Clinton had a rocky start in all presidential areas, not just communications .1 His operation reflected his disinclination to impose discipline on what he talked about, to whom, and when he did so. “I don’t want to be the mechanic-in-chief,” President Clinton told David Gergen, his new counselor, in 1993. “I don’t want to be the guy that has his hands under the hood all the time. I want to be the guy that’s in the driver’s seat figuring out where the road is,” Gergen commented. “He came to the right conclusions, but he had a very hard time resisting that temptation.”2 In his first year and a half in office, President Clinton focused on whatever was happening at any given time and devoted scant organizational resources on trying to get ahead of events.3 President Clinton’s omnipresence was reflected in the images the public saw of him on television and in the newspaper. There were few issues he would not comment on and few questions he would not answer. “When he first became president, he was so charged up about having won the election and...