Sometimes they are called "Big Brother," sometimes the "Whiz Kids," often just "the White House Presence" but never to their faces. Quietly, they have moved out of the inner circles of the White House and into key positions in the balky federal bureaucracy that President Nixon is determined to tame. From their new posts, often as second-level deputies in the departments, they can both influence policy and keep the President posted on how well it is being carried outas well as who might be getting in the way.
This expanding circle of presidential "agents" is largely the creation of two of...