Advisors and Chiefs of Staff: The Powers of the President’s People

Now & Then

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Society & Culture, History, News Commentary

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Following the announcement that Chief of Staff Ron Klain is leaving his position and Jeff Zients is taking over, Heather and Joanne look back at the history of unelected and unconfirmed presidential advisors, from Andrew Jackson’s Kitchen Cabinet, to the transformative work of early 1900s White House mainstay George B. Cortelyou, to the rise and fall of Eisenhower Chief of Staff Sherman Adams. How have these figures communicated with the chief executive over the course of American history? How has the public perceived these important aides? Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each week about the anecdotes and ideas that formed the episode. Head to: cafe.com/history For more historical analysis of current events, sign up for the free weekly CAFE Brief newsletter, featuring Time Machine, a weekly article that dives into an historical event inspired by each episode of Now & Then: cafe.com/brief For references & supplemental materials, head to: cafe.com/now-and-then/advisors-and-chiefs-of-staff-the-powers-of-the-presidents-people/ Now & Then is presented by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:57.5	Subscribe for more good news and suggestions.
1:10.9	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, this is now and then.
1:16.3	I'm Heather Cox-Prichetson, and I'm Joanne Freeman.
1:20.5	Today's topic was suggested by the simple fact that President Biden's Chief of Staff,
1:25.6	Ron Claim, is stepping down.
1:28.9	He formally announced this news on Friday, January 27th.
1:34.3	Claim was seen as an extremely influential chief of staff.
1:39.2	He's being replaced by a man named Jeff Zynes.
1:43.3	Now Claim was very much Washington insider, so he was one particular kind of chief of staff.
1:49.6	Apparently, Jeff Zynes is a former business person who is kind of known in Washington
1:54.6	as a Mr. Fixit, but comes in from a very different place and will have possibly a very different
2:00.5	influence on the president.
2:02.4	The change from Claim to Zynes is going to be an especially interesting one because
2:07.1	Claim has really been with Biden for a very long time, and this is going to play into
	...

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