The White House Staffing System

The modern presidency is different as it has a white house staff system. The white house staff system serves the president. The white house system consists of different groups like the white house office, military units, executive office of the president etc. The white house staff offer advice to the president and implement policy. In the 19th century, the president had servants and aides who advised him.The role of the aides and servants changed during the 20th century (Pfiffner, 2010). For example, the aides and servants had to work with the congress and political power centers. The increase in white house staff is good and bad. First, the increase in white house staff makes it easy to implement policies and advice the president.

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However, the increase in staff of white house might make it influence the advice provided to the president. This is because different people have different views. Hence, there should be a leader to control the staff. The executive departments provide advice to the president. For example, the foreign department provides advice to president on foreign matters. Increasing the number of white house staff might affect the role played by the excutive departments as advisers to the president. This is because the executive departments will not be able to carry out their roles well due to conflict of roles (Pfiffner, 2010).


President Nixon used a hierarchical management style during his time as the president of United States. In this case, the president did not recognize the citizens and the cabinet in his administration. The president made decisions, but did not include citizens and other people. After being elected as the president, Nixon promised to reorganize the cabinet and make it strong. The hierarchical leadership style used by President Nixon had a negative impact on the country. This is because the president was not able to relate well with other people. The president did not get support from the congress and cabinet leaders. For instance, the cabinet refused to approve the reorganized cabinet as Nixon forced them. Nixon did not involve the congress and other people in the country in decision making, but used his powers to make decision. This shows that President Nixon’s hierarchical management style was not an asset to him as it had more harm than benefits.


The  president  could  have managed  to  rule the country better if he employed  another  leadership  style that involved  the public  and the  cabinet. For example, the president could have managed the country well if he employed a democratic leadership style instead of hierarchical management style. The Nixon hierarchical management style was not an asset to him as it involved misuse of power and abuse of power. Nixon used his powers to affect the democratic process. For example, he used the power of the government to undermine the political opposition. This was aimed at helping him stay in power. The president did not allow the citizens to exercise their rights as expected. Also, the president and other leaders used their powers to cover the Watergate scandal (Pfiffner, 2010).


The Council of Economic Advisors is an organization that is found in the executive office of the president. The organization offers advice to the president. For instance, the council of economic advisors offers economic advice to the president. It offers advice on the formulation of domestic economic policy and international economic policy. The Council of economic advisors is supposed to carry out economic research and have empirical evidence so as to be able to offer the right advice. The council uses the data available to support the president in developing economic policy in the country and outside the country. The economic council advisors is made up of three members. That is the chairman and other two members.


Though we have economic advisors in the department of the treasury, commerce, labor, energy and other departments, it is important to have a council of economic advisors. The council of economic advisors is to fill in the gap created by the economic advisors in various departments. The council of economic advisors fills in the gap by carrying out economic research so as to be able to make the right decision. Relying on the economic advisors in different departments alone might affect the development of policies in the country and hence slow economic growth. Hence, there is need to have council of economic advisors (Warshaw, 2005).


The president needs to have foreign intelligence advisory board. The president’s foreign intelligence advisory board provides advice to the executive office of the president. The forein intelligence advisory board is supposed to provide advice to the president. The board advices on the quality of intelligence gathering and analysis. It also provides advice on counterintelligence. It also offers advice on the adequacy of intelligence gathering, analysis and activities. The foreign advisory board should be made up of people who are outside the government and who do not have access on foreign policy. There are various reasons why the president should have such people. First, having people who are outside the government makes it easy to make the right decision. This is because the president is provided with the right advice. Having people from the government might interfere with the development of policies and intelligence activities in the country.


This is because the members of the foreign intelligence board will not be able to offer the right advice to the president. They will affect the quality and adequacy of the intelligence activities and thus affect the implementation of  policies. Currently, the foreign intelligence advisory board consists of members who are not from the government and do not have access to economic policy information. The board consists of 16 members who are selected according to education level and achievements. The members of the advisory board are independent. The foreign intelligence advisory board is supposed to ensure the intelligence gathering; analysis and intelligence activities are of high quality and adequate. Thus, the board should be made up of members who are independent of the government, cab


Reference

Pfiffner,J.P.(2010).The Modern Presidency. Cengage Learning

Warshaw,S.A.(2005).The keys to power. Managing the presidency. Pearson Longman





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