Pressure Cooker A Recipe for Chief of Staff
Posted on 01/05/2005 8:07:25 AM PST by crushelits
Pressure Cooker
A Recipe for Chief of Staff
Andrew Card is talking about his kitchen. "I know my kitchen really well, as evidenced by my rotund being," Card says, patting his belly. "I know where the oven is and I know where the microwave is and I know where the sink is and I know where the refrigerator is and the freezer and the cupboards and the table and the chairs."
Card, 57, is sprawled on the couch of his West Wing office, describing the kitchen from his mind's eye. It is from here that the White House chief of staff organizes the nation's most potent workplace and man-hours. Like his boss, Card is an aggressively lowfalutin character. He is the longest-serving chief of staff in 46 years, yet he reminds people that he toiled many years at a McDonald's and spent one summer as a garbage collector. "I'm not a very smart person," Card says. "I have to work really hard at remembering things." Which explains the deceptively prosaic tour of the Cards' Arlington kitchen. Card rarely takes notes. He does not make to-do lists or scrawl reminders to himself on Post-its. Instead, he keeps much of the Bush White House in his head, or in his kitchen. This is where it gets eccentric for everyman Andy Card.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Interesting...
Of course, having the good fortune to work for a decent, honest, scandal-free president makes his job a tad easier..
Very interesting article. But I would love to know what sort of thing goes in the microwave.
If you go see Andy at his desk, it looks like he's not doing anything," says Andrew Natsios, a close friend of Card's who is head of the Agency for International Development. "It's almost empty, there's no paper anywhere. But he's created this whole system in his head with this mind discipline of his."
No wonder he's still there.
I found this very interesting (long, but informative -- close-up inside view of working with W).
If you don't want to give the Washington Post your Email, you can go to http://bugmenot.com/ and use their sign-in info.
I found this very interesting (long, but informative -- close-up inside view of working with W).
If you don't want to give the Washington Post your Email, you can go to http://bugmenot.com/ and use their sign-in info.
I found this very interesting (long, but informative -- close-up inside view of working with W).
If you don't want to give the Washington Post your Email, you can go to http://bugmenot.com/ and use their sign-in info.
Sorry for the triple! I don't know what happened.
Thanks for the ping. Interesting read.
**chuckles at use of 'everyman' and how it will anger libs**
BUMP!
Very interesting, thanks for the ping.
good read
Thanks for the ping
Thanks for the ping there is something very appealing about Andy Card I think I warmed to him first from one of the earlier Barney Cam he came over as very natural.
What a fabulously detailed article. I like Andy Card and his immacculate kitchen. Did you notice near the end of the article the author of this piece just had to take a couple of digs at the President on his treatment of Card? But there is no doubt that Andy would have been gone long ago if he thought that W was mistreating him.
It is interesting to speculate on all the ways Card's lengthy and detailed memory could serve the President in the cut-throat DC world. Not only can he catch all those javelins, he remembers who, what, when, & where they were thrown.
I really like Andy, he's absolutely perfect for that job and I'll bet that President Bush loves him.
3 pings to you too ;^)
his sister's daughter rides Hunter/Jumper with mine, she's a very nice person, just like her brother...rto
Nice post. Another good read about W, Andy and many others in the White House is "A Matter of Character" by Ronald Kessler.
That reminds me of the Sesame Street character "Vincent Twice, Vincent Twice" who repeated everything and was styled to resemble Vincent Price. Have a great day!
I love bugmenot, by the way...although some of the pseudo emails and passwords provided have made me blush. The ones that say something like quitasking@noneofyourbusiness.com crack me up, though.
Keeping this in his head also keeps handwritten notes from being subpoenaed. The dems would DIE for any piece of paper they can find after President Bush leaves office. They know he's going to have a legacy of being one of our greatest presidents and they would love to have any little scrap of anything in writing, to try and make something out of nothing. They've already requested tons of notes, etc., so I think this is a GOOD thing that Andy has this type of memory.
Each time I think about this administration, I am in awe of how the Lord God raised up such quality people and gave Bush favor with the American electorate so all of them could serve our country.
That is an excellent point, Pat. I think W runs much the same way -- long on thinking and brainstorming, short on paperwork, at least in his own province.
Man of prayer
Here, word for word, is what President Bush wrote above his signature in the condolence books of four foreign embassies — those of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand — the countries most affected by last week's deadly tsunami.
Indonesia: "May God bless all who suffer."
India: "We pray for the victims of this terrible disaster and we stand firmly with the people of India as she recovers."
Sri Lanka: "We pray for victims and families of this epic disaster, and the American government and American people are dedicated to helping you recover."
Thailand: "We pray for the victims and families of this epic disaster. The American people and government stand with you as you recover and rebuild."
Fascinating.......thanks for the ping!
No wonder he's still there.
With all due respect to Cards friend, and with pure contempt for the post, this is just journalistic laziniess.
Is it impossible to believe that maybe, Andrew Card has a computer, and reads everything digitally? I know I prefer to have my desk as free of clutter and paper as possible, I also make sure I put everything away so people can't read whats on my desk.
As for him not looking like he's doing anything, I doubt Card is sitting there meditating, more likely, he knows somone is about to see him, and is waiting, here, would have been a nice oppurtunity to ask Card about it.
The weird thing, is that I was one of the guys who didn't want Card to get the job as C. of S. I preferred somone more conservative and wonkish.
Andy Card is a capable but liberal Massachusetts Republican hack.
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