The Presidency by Hugh Sidey: Send Him Your Checks

In one respect he is the second most important man in the U.S. Government. If he were to fail totally, American society would be thrown into chaos, and the nation would soon stand helpless before its enemies. Ronald Reagan may not even know this man's name, since the two have met only a few times in conferences. Dan Rather would probably not recognize him if they shared a phone booth.

In biblical times, those who handled his kind of work were occasionally stoned to death. Robin Hood and his Merry Men may have put many an arrow into the rumps...

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