Chris Whipple has covered the news across most of the world for Newsweek, Life and "60 Minutes." He is also a documentary filmmaker whose work includes "Spymasters: The CIA in the Crosshairs," for which he interviewed all living CIA directors. His latest project addresses what he calls "the second-most-important job in government": the president's chief of staff.
Whipple will be in Houston this week to discuss his new book, "The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency." He'll share the stage at Rice University's Baker Institute with James A. Baker III, who was chief of staff to two presidents, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
More Information
'The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency'
By Chris Whipple
Crown, 384 pp., $28
Author appearance
Chris Whipple will discuss "The Gatekeepers" with James A. Baker III, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, James A. Baker III Hall at Rice University, 6100 Main; RSVP at bakerinstitute.org/events/1857.
We talked with Whipple recently about his new book.
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Q: Tell us about your education and your background in the film industry.
A: I was at Yale at the same time as Bill and Hillary Clinton were at Yale Law School. One of my teaching assistants was their classmate Robert Reich, who was brilliant. I learned a lot from him then, and 45 years later, he gave me a crash course on Bill Clinton's chiefs of staff.
After college, I worked for Richard Holbrooke, who was the managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine. I also worked at Newsweek and Life, and then I was a producer for "60 Minutes" and ABC News before going out on my own to make documentaries.
This book grew out of a documentary I did for Discovery with filmmakers Jules and Gédéon Naudet in 2013, in which we interviewed all 20 chiefs of staff who were then alive.
Q: As you say, you've worked as a print journalist and making documentaries. What's the difference between cinematic and written narratives?
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A: They are different media but alike in the sense that an interview is an interview. You have to persuade people to be candid, introspective and to share information. You construct documentaries around your subject. The "Gatekeepers" book is rich with interviews, and I try to tell the chiefs' story through the prism of their job. I hope their voice comes through loud and clear, and if it does, that may be a function of my documentary approach.
Q: Am I correct that this book includes interviews with all living presidential chiefs of staff?
A: Yes. Some may argue that Jim Jones and Marvin Watson, both of whom worked for LBJ, should be included, but they didn't have that title; nor did they have quite the same responsibilities.
Q: What is a chief of staff's role?
A: He is many things. He's the president's closest confidante, the one the president relies on to turn his agenda into reality. He's a liaison to Congress; the guy who tells the president what he doesn't want to hear. He should be the president's honest broker, the person who ensures that every department is heard fairly, every side of the issue presented. And as Andrew Card once said, "You make sure the president is never hungry, angry or lonely."
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Q: In the book, you identify Bob Haldeman, Nixon's chief of staff, as the first true modern chief.
A: That's correct. He was empowered to run the White House, controlled the information flow to the president and was responsible for executing his agenda. That started with Haldeman.
Q: Following Haldeman, Ford and Carter were uneasy about putting that much trust in a chief of staff. Carter even attempted to run the presidency without a true chief of staff. Does everyone now accept that position as crucial to presidential success?
A: I think it's less settled than ever. Right now, you have (Stephen) Bannon, (Reince) Priebus and other senior advisers fighting for the attention of the president, and that can lead to disaster. We've seen it before.
Q: I'd like to give you some names and have you tell me a brief sentence about them.
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A: OK.
Q: Rahm Emmanuel.
A: Force of nature, exactly the guy President (Barack) Obama needed at the beginning.
Q: James Baker.
A: The gold standard, the guy who knew from Day 1 how to be chief of staff.
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Q: Dick Cheney.
A: As chief of staff, he was the antithesis to the Darth Vader character he became as vice president.
Q: Andrew Card.
A: Maybe the most humble and dedicated White House chief ever, who lacked the authority to run the White House as an honest broker.
Q: Leon Panetta.
A: Along with James Baker, the quintessential chief of staff.
Q: Mack McLarty.
A: He was so popular he was known as "Mack the Nice" - but McLarty was a stranger to Capitol Hill and its bare-knuckled wars, and unable to discipline his best friend, Bill Clinton.
Q: Donald Rumsfeld.
A: All throttle, no brake. And no nonsense.
Q: Don Regan was not known for his success in the position. Did he confuse being chief of staff with being president?
A: Well, as Nancy Reagan said, "his favorite word in the title was 'chief,' not 'staff.' " People who are principals (as in executives) in previous jobs tend not to succeed as a chief of staff because they don't understand the staff part of the job.
Q: Describe the importance of a chief knowing the president's strengths and weaknesses.
A: No president can have all the attributes necessary to succeed. It's the chief's job to complement the president's attributes with his own attributes and other staff members' attributes.
Q: How many hours should the chief of staff expect to work?
A: 24/7 and then some. You are never off duty. Dick Cheney believed that the stress caused his first heart attack. Bill Daley came down with shingles. The job isn't for the faint of heart.
Mike Yawn is the Director of the Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics at Sam Houston State University.
