Jody Powell always maintained that one of Jimmy Carter's problems was his tendency to base his decisions solely on logic. Back in the Georgia statehouse, Carter used to wonder why it was necessary to butter somebody up to get him to do what the facts showed he should do. Carter did very little buttering up.
He carried this belief with him through the campaign, arguing that he would dramatically diminish "clubhouse government," in which powerful men arranged things among themselves on the phone or over lunch. Then he went to the White House,...
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