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In The Shadow of Bush
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The trick is to make sure that the next president will hear something beyond his or her own self-justifications and the cloying encouragement of handlers. Former ambassador David Abshire, a longtime Washington centrist and author of a new study of the presidency, "A Call to Greatness," has proposed the creation of a unity cabinet. Citing presidents like FDR and JFK, who brought in Republicans as advisers and cabinet secretaries, Abshire proposes that the next president name at least two major cabinet members from the opposing party. Such a bold move would send "an immediate signal," says Abshire, that the new president wants to reduce the angry partisanship that poisons Washington.
Of course, presidents can cut out even the most powerful cabinet officers. Just ask former secretary of State Colin Powell how much face time he had with Bush once it became known that he opposed an invasion of Iraq. Presidents have to be willing to seek out contrary advice, but they don't have to be showy about it. In fact, modesty works well. When Truman's advisers recommended that he create a plan to rebuild Europe after World War II, Truman wisely said, "Just don't put my name on it." Thus was born the Marshall Plan, named after the sainted General Marshall, who had become secretary of State.
Eisenhower was a master at creating consensus behind the scenes. After he was elected in 1952, he secretly gathered all the best national-security thinkers in the country to help him shape a strategy to deal with the Soviet Union. Three teams were created, each to argue a different point of view. Eisenhower could seem inarticulate, even a little dim, in public. But in the private "Project Solarium" (named after the room where the teams met in the White House residence), the man who was best able to sum up the opposing points of view was … Dwight Eisenhower. The next president of the United States faces challenges just as vexing as Soviet communism. He or she would do well to summon proponents of different strategies—and then truly listen to what they have to say. If George W. Bush had done something similar before the invasion and occupation of Iraq, his would-be successors might not be so standoffish, and the Republican Party might not be in such a precarious state.
With Holly Bailey, Suzanne Smalley, Pat Wingert, Sarah Elkins and Sarah Kliff
© 2008
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