CAREER SUICIDE | The President's Men

The staff that an incoming president of the United States picks signals a lot about the direction of his presidency. We apparently won't see all the policy-level appointments till January, but judging from the wheeling-dealing White House staff Barack Obama has assembled under 'Rahmbo' Emmanuel, it looks as if, whatever the specifics of his policies may be, he's first focusing on making very sure they're going to get implemented by Congress, unlike what happened to his Democratic predecessors, Carter and Clinton.It's interesting to go back in time and look at the staffs of previous presidents. President Nixon's staff, for example, was strange because it was picked largely from his advertising agency, J Walter Thompson, which he liked for its efficient, get-it-done attitude, well suited to his own autocratic style. No less than five of his key aides were from that company, prompting Ralph Nader to refer to the Nixon administration as a `J Walter Thompson production'.
In fact, there was a joke going around at the time. It seems a TV interviewer was interviewing the president's new team. He asked Bob Haldeman, the White House chief of staff, "So Mr Haldeman, what did you do before joining Mr Nixon's staff?" and Haldeman replied, "I worked for the J Walter Thompson Company". The interviewer then turned to Lawrence Higby, assistant chief of staff, and asked, "And Mr Higby, what did you do before joining Mr Nixon's staff?" and Higby replied, "I worked for the J Walter Thompson Company". The interviewer then asked Ken Cole, Nixon's special assistant, "And Mr Cole, what did you do before joining Mr Nixon's staff?" and Cole replied, "Well, sir, i worked for the J Walter Thompson Company". The interviewer then asked Dwight Chapin, another special assistant, the same question and got the same answer. Seeing that this was getting awkward, Ron Ziegler, Nixon's canny press secretary yet another J Walter Thompson recruitee decided he had to change the subject. So before the interviewer could turn on him, Ziegler cut in smoothly, saying, "Mr interviewer, what did you do before you started interviewing people for TV?" The interviewer hesitated, and then sheepishly mumbled, "er... i worked for the J Walter Thompson Company. Poor guys". It turned out to be one of the worst career moves of the 20th century.