Biden's no-drama White House chief
Joe Biden's first four months have been marked by a frenzy of presidential action - a $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan passed; 133 million Americans vaccinated; 167 million relief checks issued; childhood poverty on track to be cut in half; a Middle Eastern conflict defused. And yet the story of this presidency has so far been nearly devoid of drama.
Where are the White House power struggles and palace intrigue? Why are there no leaks? Where are the internecine battles over policy? The answer is that competence can be boring. (Or soothing, depending on your point of view.) Indeed, Biden's team has been nearly flawless at executing his agenda and lowering our collective political blood pressure.
And Ron Klain, his White House chief of staff, may be - at least at this early stage - the most effective in modern history.
The bar has been low lately. Trump and his final, feckless White House chief of staff Mark Meadows were so incompetent they utterly mismanaged - and tried to ignore - a once-in-a-century health crisis, contributing to more than a half million deaths. But even the best White House chiefs have stumbled out of the gate. Consider James A. Baker III, Reagan's first chief, who was considered the gold standard. His West Wing was Wrestle Mania - with the conservative Edwin Meese, the president's counselor, and the pragmatic Baker slamming each other around the ring. "The right hand," quipped the president, "does not know what the far-right hand is doing." Baker's team got almost nothing accomplished - until Reagan was wounded in an assassination attempt, creating a wave of sympathy that helped smooth the passage of his tax cuts after seven months in office. Even Obama's "no drama" White House was riven by warring egos and ideological factions.
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