Speaker: Presidents fail because of too much talking, not enough governing

Presidents fail because they are too busy speaking and don’t focus enough on the government they run, said the woman who created and managed President Clinton’s “Reinventing Government” project.

Elaine Kamarck, who served in the White House from 1993-97 and wrote the book, “Why presidents fail and how they can succeed again” spoke at the Clinton School of Public Service Tuesday.

Kamarck said her book tells stories of failures from which presidents could not fully recover: President Carter’s attempt to rescue hostages in Iran that resulted in the collision of a helicopter and a transport plane: President George W. Bush’s failure to anticipate various problems such as the September 11 attacks and the banking crisis; and the disastrous rollout of the healthcare.gov website under President Obama.

Kamarck said such problems occur because presidents aren’t managing the governments they run. The day a new president moves into the White House, he or she talks to the same people who helped him or her get elected – not the 4 million people who work for the federal government and will implement his or her polices.

Kamarck said presidents spend far more time on communications and messaging than they do on policy and implementation. She said presidents are talking and traveling more than ever. When she was in the White House, senior staff meetings focused on the message of the day.

“Presidents need to spend a little less time talking and a little bit more time understanding governing and the government that they run,” she said.

Kamarck said presidents should spend more time studying organizational capacity. Before the rollout of healthcare.gov, Obama should have asked if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could handle the job. He would have learned the agency was already overstressed. Before Carter attempted to rescue the hostages, military leaders for decades had been saying the various services couldn’t coordinate their efforts.

Kamarck said the White House should be structured to allow for “scanning” of the federal government to monitor its activities. She also recommended updating the Office of Cabinet Affairs. She said Cabinet officers have become less important and White House staff more important, even though Cabinet secretaries are in the best position to understand what is happening in government.

Kamarck said conservatives have been working to make government smaller since 1994 but haven’t succeeded because they don’t understand it. At times, they’ll push through across-the-board cuts, which lead to big problems and ultimately result in funding being restored. Cuts should be done like cutting the fat off of meat, and that meat is marbled, she said.

Asked about the presidential nominating process, she said for much of American history, candidates were nominated through conventions that were closed entities that allowed for peer review and “reality testing” by politicians. Today, candidates are nominated because they are eloquent and because they tap into something in the national mood, but voters don’t measure their ability to govern.

“The presidency is like drinking from a water hose,” she said. “You have to learn so much so fast. And most presidents come in with expertise in a couple of places. If you come in with expertise in no places, you’re really in trouble.”