Stephen Hess
Stephen Hess
Stephen H. Hessis a senior fellow emeritus in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. He studies media, the U.S. presidency, political dynasties and the U.S. government. He first joined Brookings in 1972 and was distinguished research professor of media and public affairs at the George Washington University. He served on Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon's White House staff and as an adviser to Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter...
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People said it would be very hard for Eisenhower to get along without Sherman Adams, but he did, ... We quickly realized that it was Eisenhower who was running the administration all along.
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She would be better off politically not making a commitment that she wouldn't run for president if she were re-elected, ... Clearly, if (her Senate race) were going to be a squeaker, she'd better give a lot of thought to how she responds to that. But, if, as it appears, she's going to have a pretty easy time of it, why put herself in a position of looking hypocritical or devious?
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But life did not work quite as he designed it in the next year. He picked the wrong major item, Social Security. And then the war got worse and he had the hurricane. So now it's not only the sand that has run out of the hourglass but also the political capital has run out of the bank.
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A president's second term is like an hour glass with the sand running out.
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The most important thing in the long run in the United States was the appointment of two new justices to the Supreme Court.
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I don't think this is going to be one of those historic State of the Union messages. When people talk about new initiatives, they cost money. He's run out of wiggle room there.
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There's a feeling that he's genuine, ... And that can be strange for a fellow with his dynastic history. But he's more Midland (Texas) than Greenwich, Connecticut.
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Presidents never get everyone they want -- no one does. There's simply no doubt that while these are fascinating jobs and interesting times ... some people are pleased to be mentioned and happy not to accept.
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Even in this context, I am not going to get too uptight about it. When (officials such as Griffin) make statements that can be interpreted as political statements, the government should not be underwriting it. You just caught the fellow with a little egg on his vest, looking untidy.
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Besides, he's already spoken extensively about the hurricanes.
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Bill Clinton is taking the biggest public policy risk of his career and Gore just has to be there with him all the way. Otherwise what happens -- it becomes a Hubert Humphrey situation.
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Washington is getting more and more of a reputation of being a pretty hard-knuckled place to operate, where you could end up leaving potentially tarnished by the experience.
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There's no question it's a new strategy. Coming to Charlotte, as well as going to Cleveland, is not what used to be known as a 'Rose Garden strategy.' It's not to jolly people up. It's an attempt to ... keep Americans behind him -- and patient.
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There's no way he can be in the inner, inner circle. He hasn't paid his dues enough for that. He can sit at the table, he can even say things, but he understands that.