The President's Call: Executive Leadership From FDR to George Bush (95 page)

BOOK: The President's Call: Executive Leadership From FDR to George Bush
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3. See chapter 7 for Bush's PAS tenure-related factors.
4. See chapter 7 for comparable Bush PAS data.
5
. Washington Post,
April 9, 1993.
6. Additional evidence of the power of this particular special interest group came early in President Clinton's administration. On the ninety-ninth day of the media-hyped "First 100 Days," the veterans lobby forced him to reduce the dollar amount of his public-service-for-education plan (AmeriCorps) from $20,000 to
 
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$13,000 per student, because the lobby was determined that these benefits would not surpass the GI Bill's education benefits for veterans.
6
Political-Career Relations in the Modern Era
1. On the PAS side, however, there is a pull to the bureaucracy, particularly by those experiencing frustration with the White House, lending "credence to Nixon's fear that his appointees would be captured by their departments." And despite the best efforts of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to separate the politicians from the careerists, the Nixon appointees generally gave high marks to the civil service. So, "if confidence in the career service is one indicator of capture, Nixon's inner circle was right to worry about losing control" (Light 1987, 159-60).
2."Quality of Work Force Seen as Not in Decline."
Washington Post,
August 12, 1992.
3. In 1991, the catch-up year, SES salaries rose between 22.2 percent (at the first level, ES-1, from $71,200 to $87,000) and 29.6 percent (at the top level, ES-6, from $83,600 to $108,300). Thereafter, the salary increase was more in line with the usual raise (e.g., 3.2 percent for 1992).
4. Clinton's youthful indiscretion, that is, committing to writing his honest feelings about the military and the draft, was a constant source of irritation to the military, both establishment and enlisted. His ongoing problems with the military weighed heavily on his presidential campaign in a time that also saw the end of the Cold War and the beginning of more serious intentions to cut the military budget. He was helped somewhat by the few top brass who came to his aid and throughout his first term he was notably deferential to military sensibilities and budget requests, with one early exception, his commitment to ending discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the military. Following the ensuing hysteria in the military and the general public, he staged a strategic retreat, leaving the matter to the courts. Regardless, distrust of him by veterans' groups and some active-duty military people continued long into his term.
7
The Bush Senate-Confirmed Presidential Appointees
1
. Washington Post,
October 3, 1992.
2. Sofaer had crafted the government's justification for the U.S. military strike on Tripoli and the economic sanctions against Libya that many think were the impetus for the Libyan attack on the airliner. Washington's anger over the questionable ethics of accepting this job caused Sofaer to drop it within several days of its becoming public in July 1993.
3. Simple transmission of completed nomination papers from the White House to the Senate can be inexplicably slow; some PASs reported a delay of as long as two months. On the Senate side, there is an automatic three-week hold on a new nomination while the nominee runs the gauntlet of courtesy meetings with senators; even then, the committee chair can hold up consideration indefinitely. Additionally, any senator can anonymously request a one-week delay in the confirmation process.
4. The author can speak from personal experience about the rigorous-to-the-point-of-imbecility security check. A one-year doctoral research fellowship with the GAO with no security clearance required fingerprinting, completion of a ten-

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