Nation: Curbing Cabinet Government

Carter and his aides set tougher rules

When Jimmy Carter first became President, he talked a lot about decentralizing the "imperial presidency" and relying on "Cabinet Government." He gave his new Cabinet members considerable latitude in picking their own aides and working out their own policies. But the experiment also produced damaging public disputes.

Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano Jr. let it be known that he did not like Carter's niggardly approach to spending for new social programs. Word leaked that Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal thought the President was wrong to...

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