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220 thirty Cabinet-Style Government Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. —William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night Having had the presidency suddenly thrust upon him, Ford spent the first six months assembling his own team, combining new faces with trusted veterans from the Nixon administration. Attending my first cabinet meeting in April 1975 was a thrill for me. In the historic cabinet room, I felt humbled by the examples of such awe-inspiring predecessors as Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, William H. Seward, George C. Marshall, and Frances Perkins. Assembled around the table were the newly confirmed vice president, Nelson Rockefeller; Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state; Edward Levi, the new attorney general; Carla Hills, secretary of housing and urban development ; William Simon, secretary of the treasury; George H. W. Bush, director of the CIA; Daniel Patrick Moynihan, ambassador to the United Nations; Brent Scowcroft, director of the National Security Council; and Alan Greenspan , chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, among others. It was an eclectic group of independent thinkers and achievers from many walks of American life—academia, banking, law, and public service. It was not topheavy with elected officials—senators, representatives, or governors stolen from their constituents—as the cabinets of more recent administrations have been. Diversity of experience and perspective and depth of knowledge and expertise were virtues of the Ford cabinet. The cabinet meeting lasted about three hours. Kissinger led a discussion about issues relating to the Soviet Union, our European allies, and China.The president described his plans to control inflation and create new jobs. No decisions were made. The purpose of a cabinet meeting as I saw it was twofold. First, it was an opportunity for cabinet officers to get to know one another on a personal level so they could better work together in coordinating policy and resolving interdepartmental conflicts. Many of the controversies I faced as 05-0488-1 part5.indd 220 9/9/10 8:26 PM Cabinet-Style Government / 221 secretary were with my cabinet peers or with agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency or the Office of Management and Budget. Personal collegiality facilitated the resolution of strong disagreements. Disputes were grounded in differences in our respective missions, often defined by conflicting statutory mandates. The Environmental Protection Agency wanted cars that created less air pollution, and the Department of Transportation wanted cars that were safer and more fuel efficient.1 Where one stood on an issue depended on where one sat. Usually there was no single right answer. We had to reconcile various public interest objectives in coming to an optimal result. When we could not reach agreement, we would ask for a meeting with the president, who often invited us to the White House on a Saturday afternoon to discuss conflicting policy recommendations. Ford would listen to each point of view and then render a decision. The meetings would start in the early afternoon, as President Ford often played golf in the morning with his close friend, Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill. The other principal purpose of a cabinet meeting was to keep us informed on the administration’s key foreign and domestic policy issues. We raised questions and provided insights from our perspective that helped articulate a coherent, consistent message of the administration’s priorities. As cabinet officers, we were frequently called on to discuss the president’s policies in various forums, and it was important that this choir all sing from a single sheet of music. During the Ford administration the president’s cabinet usually met about once every ten days. The meetings usually started at nine in the morning and continued until noon or early afternoon. On occasion some or all of the cabinet members would be called to the White House at the end of the day for a discussion of issues of concern to the president. I recall one cabinet meeting in particular, which illustrates the way in which President Ford effectively used his cabinet. The night before a regularly scheduled cabinet meeting word had flashed across the television screens that Syria had invaded Lebanon, which at the time was partially occupied by Israel. The president and Secretary Kissinger had been on the phone most of the night and had met earlier in the Oval Office that morning. When the cabinet convened, Kissinger gave the briefing. Contrary to the fears of those of us less schooled in foreign policy, Kissinger did not see the Syrian...

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