PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

In recent days, those of us who label ourselves “political junkies” have had a chance to see one of the worst presidential chiefs of staff in history at the same time as we anticipate one who could become one of the best.

We have just been through a Trump presidency when the occupant of the Oval Office, a buffoon and tyrant, cycled through chiefs of staff like they weren’t even there.

If they did not do his bidding, they were gone.

One of the worst was the person who went out of office with Trump, Mark Meadows.

Chris Whipple, the author of a book about presidential chiefs of staff, wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal contending that Meadows “earned the title of the worst chief of staff in history.”

Here is how Whipple put it:

 “In a secure tent on the Ellipse, as President Trump prepared to incite an angry mob ahead of its assault on the U.S. Capitol, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, smiling from ear to ear, mugged for a video with Donald Trump Jr., as Laura Branigan’s 1982 hit ‘Gloria’ blared in the background.

“For Trump’s glad-handing chief of staff, it was just another day of dutifully holding the president’s coat while the boss took a hammer to democracy. This will be the defining image of Meadows, for which he has earned the title of worst chief of staff in history.”

Now, with President Joe Biden, there is a chief of staff, Ron Klain, who has a breadth of government experience and tenacity that leaves all of the Trump comparators far in his wake, including Meadows.  Among other things, Klain lead the Obama Administration effort deal with the Ebola virus, which puts him in a good position to deal with the coronavirus response, the top issue for the Biden Administration.

That’s probably why congressional Republicans are going after Klain by using such descriptions as “the guy behind the curtain” and “Prime Minister Klain.”  They are trying to push back on someone they see as formidable opponent in the battle over President Biden’s agenda.

Specifically, a Washington Post report says the GOP blames Klain for Biden’s refusal to negotiate the price down on his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, an approach they say conflicts with Biden’s campaign pledges.

Now, many miles from the scene of the action in Washington, D.C., why do I offer my perspective on the chief of staff issue?  Well, two reasons,

First, I gleaned perspectives on the chief of staff position in Oregon as I watched – and worked for – several persons who held the position in past gubernatorial administrations.  To be sure, Oregon is not as big or complicated as D.C., but experience here offers helpful perspectives on what a chief of staff does – or should do.

Second, I did spend time reading the book by Whipple, the title of which was “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency.”  A very good read. 

So, from my perch in the cheap seats out West, I have spent a bit of time thinking about credentials for the chief of staff position, in Oregon or in Washington, D.C.  I do so because, in many ways, chiefs of staff are the most important appointed positions under an elected chief executive. 

On an organizational chart, it may not appear to be so on, but clout and authority go with the title.  Thus, here are a few credentials.

• The ability to rely on experience, which means, to state the obvious, that a chief of staff has to have experience to fall back on.  When I was hiring persons to work in state agencies I managed or in my private firm, experience always was the first credential I looked for.

 [The last chief of staff I worked for in Oregon, Gerry Thompson, had a wealth of experience, both in the public and private sectors. That made her an excellent chief for the last Republican governor in Oregon, Vic Atiyeh.  Full disclosure:  I worked for Gerry and she is still a good friend.]

• The ability, not just to tolerate dissent, but to welcome it, for welcoming competing points of view holds the potential to make final decisions better.
• The ability to handle multiple issues at the same time, a credential for any high-level manager. 
• The ability to lead the effort to deal fairly and ethically with members of the public who may not fully understand the inner-workings of government.
• The ability to know when to advance an administration’s policies and when to go slower to provide more time for others to catch up, or for middle ground to be found. 
• The ability to exhibit political leadership — a credential easier to see in action than to define in words.

So, as we anticipate the continuation of the Biden Administration, it will be interesting to watch Ron Klain.  I suspect that, in the future, he will be included in a chapter in a new Whipple book as a chief of staff with solid credentials who performed well in the job.