The forces at work within the White House have always been hard to reconcile. Secrecy is essential in some crises, but secrecy can also become a refuge for incompetence or special favor. Loyalty and the desire to protect the President are ingredients of any effective White House staff, but sometimes withholding blunt truths is the worst service that can be rendered.
Family and favored friends of a President form a special arsenal of service and persuasion, but if not sparingly used and tightly supervised, these people sometimes confuse their own interests with those of the nation.
Jimmy Carter stands this week...
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