Is Thomas McLarty, Bill Clinton's kindergarten classmate, just too nice a guy to be White House chief of staff? At first that appears to be the case: the mild-mannered McLarty greets a visitor with an open, guileless smile, an almost whispered hello and a courtly bow more suited to a maitre d' than to the CEO of a FORTUNE 500 company. He doesn't hold "meetings" or give "interviews" but instead likes to "visit" with friends and colleagues. Such humility might seem a hazard in the job that got the better of John Sununu and Sam Skinner.
But Bill Clinton is no George Bush, and it is no accident that the new chief of staff lacks the hardballer's callouses of his predecessors. Rather than letting a lone chief of staff bring a narrow set of final decisions to him, as Bush did, Clinton will spend much of his time debating the pros and cons of issues with his deputies. "I don't see the job as a gatekeeper or as an enforcer. I really do see it as a supporting role," says McLarty. He intends to be an honest broker who will carry out orders, keep a low profile and make sure that those who disagree do so, as he puts it, "in an agreeable way."
Clinton's aides say McLarty will prosper because he enjoys the longtime trust of both the President-elect and his wife. In Arkansas, where politics is a kind of state-sponsored blood sport, McLarty is almost universally admired.
Those who know him say he is an organizational whiz who glows with confidence and is able to get his way without making personal attacks. Known widely as "Mack," he has built an unusual degree of loyalty across political lines simply by being direct and honest. One of the few people in Clinton's inner circle with private business experience, McLarty ran his family's chain of Ford dealerships for 15 years and recalls the pain of making what he calls "better-bad choices," which included firing family members and close friends who didn't measure up. "I don't think you have to be autocratic or meanspirited," he says, "but decisions have to be made, and I know how to put the periods on the ends of sentences."
McLarty's greatest asset is his 41-year relationship with the President- elect. During the past year, Clinton spoke frequently in private about the importance of staying "grounded" in the face of so much new attention. Clinton's defeat in his 1980 attempt for a second gubernatorial term taught him that he could get too arrogant for his own good. When he asked McLarty earlier this month to consider the chief of staff's job, Clinton told his old friend that he wanted someone who could look the most powerful man on earth in the eye, remind him of his roots and tell him he was messing up. "I plan to talk straight," said McLarty. "The President-elect expects me to do that, just as I have for 40 years now."