Choice Outstanding Title H. R. Haldeman, President Nixon's former
chief of staff, is said to have boasted: "Every president needs a
son of a bitch, and I'm Nixon's. I'm his buffer and I'm his
bastard. I get done what he wants done and I take the heat instead
of him." Richard Ellis explores the widely discussed but poorly
understood phenomenon of presidential "lightning rods"-cabinet
officials who "take the heat" instead of their bosses. Whether by
intent or circumstance, these officials divert criticism and blame
away from their presidents. The phenomenon is so common that it's
assumed to be an essential item in every president's managerial
toolbox. But, Ellis argues, such assumptions can oversimplify our
understanding of this tool. Ellis advises against indiscriminate
use of the lightning rod metaphor. Such labeling can hide as much
as it reveals about presidential administration and policymaking at
the cabinet level. The metaphor often misleads by suggesting
strategic intent on the president's part while obscuring the
calculations and objectives of presidential adversaries and the
lightning rods themselves. Ellis also illuminates the opportunities
and difficulties that various presidential posts-especially
secretaries of state, chiefs of staff, and vice presidents-have
offered for deflecting blame from our presidents. His study offers
numerous detailed and instructive examples from the administrations
of Truman (Dean Acheson); Eisenhower (Richard Nixon, John Foster
Dulles, Herbert Brownell, and Ezra Taft Benson); LBJ (Hubert
Humphrey); Ford (Henry Kissinger); and Reagan (James Watt). These
examples, Ellis suggests, should guide our understanding of the
relationship between lightning rods and presidential leadership,
policymaking, and ratings. Blame avoidance, he warns, does have its
limitations and may even backfire at times. Nevertheless, President
Clinton and his successors may need to rely on such tools. The
presidency, Ellis points out, finds itself the object of
increasingly intense partisan debate and microscopic scrutiny by a
wary press. Lightning rods can deflect such heat and help the
president test policies, gauge public opinion, and protect his
political power and public image. Ellis's book is an essential
primer for helping us understand this process.
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