The Gatekeepers

The first in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how the American presidency has hinged on the effectiveness of the White House chiefs of staff, how their decisions have dictated the course of our country and what each appointment reveals about its respective president.

Zusatztext 77489904 Informationen zum Autor Chris Whipple Klappentext Now with a chapter on the chaos in the Trump administration, the New York Times bestselling, behind-the-scenes look at the White House Chiefs of Staff, whose actions-and inactions-have defined the course of our country. What do Dick Cheney and Rahm Emanuel have in common? Aside from polarizing personalities, both served as chief of staff to the president of the United States-as did Donald Rumsfeld, Leon Panetta, and a relative handful of others. The chiefs of staff, often referred to as "the gatekeepers," wield tremendous power in Washington and beyond; they decide who is allowed to see the president, negotiate with Congress to push POTUS's agenda, and-most crucially-enjoy unparalleled access to the leader of the free world. Each chief can make or break an administration, and each president reveals himself by the chief he picks. Through extensive, intimate interviews with eighteen living chiefs (including Reince Priebus) and two former presidents, award-winning journalist and producer Chris Whipple pulls back the curtain on this unique fraternity. In doing so, he revises our understanding of presidential history, showing us how James Baker's expert managing of the White House, the press, and Capitol Hill paved the way for the Reagan Revolution-and, conversely, how Watergate, the Iraq War, and even the bungled Obamacare rollout might have been prevented by a more effective chief. Filled with shrewd analysis and never-before-reported details, The Gatekeepers offers an essential portrait of the toughest job in Washington.This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof Copyright © 2017 Chris Whipple Introduction I Brought My Pillow and My Blankie Rahm Emanuel was so cold he could see his breath as he crossed the White House parking lot and entered the West Wing lobby. It was December 5, 2008, an unusually frigid morning in Washington, D.C. But it wasn't the weather that sent a chill through Emanuel; it was the unbelievably daunting challenge that lay ahead. In just six weeks Emanuel would become White House chief of staff to Barack Obama, the forty-fourth president of the United States. But for more than a month, he had watched in astonishment as the world they were about to inherit was turned upside down. The U.S. economy was teetering on the edge of another Great Depression. Creditthe lifeblood of the world economywas frozen. The entire auto industry was on the brink of collapse. Two bloody wars were mired in stalemate. There was more than a little truth, Emanuel thought, to the headline in The Onion : Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job. The stiletto-tongued infighter, former senior adviser to Bill Clinton, and congressman from Illinois felt apprehensive. I brought my pillow and my blankie," he would later joke, looking back at that dark morning when the fate of the new administration seemed to hang in the balance. The truth was, Rahm Emanuel was scared. The unannounced gathering at the White House that morning looked like a Cold War-era national security crisis. Black sedans and SUVs rolled up; men in dark suits clambered into the Executive Mansion. Emanuel thought about the elite fraternity that was assem­bling here: Donald Rumsfeld. Dick Cheney. Leon Panetta. Howard Baker Jr. Jack Watson. Ken Duberstein. John Sununu. Sam Skinner. Mack McLarty. John Podesta. Andrew Card. Joshua Bolten. They were among Washington's most powerful figures of the last half cen­tury: secretaries of defense, OMB directors, governor, CIA director, majority leader, and vice president. But they had one thing above all in common. It was a special bond, a shared trial by fire that tran­scended their political differences: Every one of them had served as White House chief of staff As they gathered in the office they had all once occupied-now hom...

Praise for Chris Whipple’s The Gatekeepers
 
New York Times Bestseller

“Entertaining and engaging.”
*—**Wall Street Journal 

“Compelling and insightful... destined to take its place alongside classic works by Richard Neustadt, Theodore White and other White House chroniclers… A must-read.”
—Huffington Post

“Carefully researched and eminently readable, *The Gatekeepers… provides a fresh view of the modern presidencies. Whipple cuts to the heart of what, or more to the point who, makes a presidency succeed or fail.”
—Newsday

“A treasure trove of stories about 'the second-most-powerful job in government.'”
—Fort Worth Star Telegram

“Could not be more timely...There are valuable lessons in The Gatekeepers for Trump’s chief, the embattled Reince Priebus.”
—*TIME.com

“Captivating...This is a tale told by a journalist, and in a way that makes for better history.”
—*USNews.com

“[Whipple’s] prose is clear, crisp and often evocative…his observations ring true as he tracks the development of the office.”
*—Washington Times

“Observers of the political scene will find this book well worth their time and attention. Whipple’s style is lively and engaging, and he peppers the pages with colorful quotes and marvelous anecdotes.”
—History News Network

“A candid and exhilarating history about the development of the office of Chief of Staff.”
—Missourian*

“Chris Whipple takes us deep inside one of the most important and demanding jobs in Washington—White House chief of staff.  Here we get to know how great power is managed, and exercised by those who have held the job. If you're a political junkie or merely curious, this is the book for you.”
—Tom Brokaw, former anchor, NBC Nightly News
 
“A vivid, enthralling, and brilliantly reported account of White House chiefs of staff, who are—with all respects to US vice presidents—the actual second-most-powerful people in Washington. This is US history through the fascinating prism of the men who guard the door to the Oval Office, and a learned, welcome, and important addition to the study of the executive branch.”
—Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for Smoking, No Way to Treat a First Lady, and The Relic Master
 
“Understanding how government really works, what Presidents actually do, and what is the range of 'normal' versus 'unprecedented' behavior, is more important now than ever before. As The Gatekeepers makes vividly clear, White House chiefs of staff are at the center of the process that determines how presidents succeed or fail. This is an enlightening work of history with important lessons for our immediate future.”
—James Fallows, The Atlantic, former White House speechwriter
 
“Chief of Staff is a role of recent vintage—the most powerful job in government never mentioned in the Constitution.  Chris Whipple has done a wonderful job humanizing the crushing nature of the 24/7 job (literally 24/7) in which all credit or blame goes to the President who is served.  This is a book of insights, but so too is it an important manual on how the executive branch of our government functions.”
—Charles Gibson, former anchor, ABC World News Tonight
 
“The story of White House chiefs of staff—often second only to the presid…