Best Chief of Staff?

[Higgins]

Who has been the best?

[SATW]

I voted Howard Baker, but I also like Andy Card, Josh Bolten, Erskine Bowles, Dick Cheney and Al Haig

[Illiniwek]

Yikes there are a lot of HPs on this list.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Baker

[Mr. Reactionary]

I voted Haldeman for his great help in bringing Nixon down.

[This is Eharding, guys]

Panetta, followed by McDonough. Possibly the reverse.

[Lechasseur]

Howard Baker

[Kingpoleon]

Baker, Cheney, and Emmanuel were all extremely effective. I voted Baker.

Rumsfeld and Cheney at some point switched from being foreign policy realists like Ford, Kissinger, Powell, and Rice, to being neoconservatives. In the 1970s, though, they were pretty great.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Rumsfeld and Cheney at some point switched from being foreign policy realists like Ford, Kissinger, Powell, and Rice, to being neoconservatives. In the 1970s, though, they were pretty great.

As early as their first period in power--that is, the mid 1970's, and the first time that is relevant here--they stood notably to Kissinger's "right".

[Lumine]

Haig did keep the White House running through a period of chaos and managed to navigate through Nixon's paranoia, so...

[Kingpoleon]

Rumsfeld and Cheney at some point switched from being foreign policy realists like Ford, Kissinger, Powell, and Rice, to being neoconservatives. In the 1970s, though, they were pretty great.

As early as their first period in power--that is, the mid 1970's, and the first time that is relevant here--they stood notably to Kissinger's "right".

Not really. Phil Crane and Alexander Haig were the main two hawks at the time.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Rumsfeld and Cheney at some point switched from being foreign policy realists like Ford, Kissinger, Powell, and Rice, to being neoconservatives. In the 1970s, though, they were pretty great.

As early as their first period in power--that is, the mid 1970's, and the first time that is relevant here--they stood notably to Kissinger's "right".

Not really. Phil Crane and Alexander Haig were the main two hawks at the time.

Fascinating.

[Blue3]

Best Hand of the King... Tyrion Lannister.

[Kingpoleon]

Rumsfeld and Cheney at some point switched from being foreign policy realists like Ford, Kissinger, Powell, and Rice, to being neoconservatives. In the 1970s, though, they were pretty great.

As early as their first period in power--that is, the mid 1970's, and the first time that is relevant here--they stood notably to Kissinger's "right".

Not really. Phil Crane and Alexander Haig were the main two hawks at the time.

Fascinating.

I apologize if there's a misunderstanding - Cheney and Rumsfeld, at the time, pretended to be moderates/business conservatives and were hardly critics of Kissinger.

[dw93]

I would say Leon Panneta. 1994 and 1995 were, in my view, the make or break for the Clinton Presidency (more so than 1998, which was when the Lewinsky scandal and impeachment were going on), and Panneta probably at least had a small part in Clinton's comeback.

Howard Baker would come in second for me, as he came in after the disaster that was Don Regan (who in my view was the worst, at least the worst Chief of Staff post Halderman) and Howard Baker also came in after Reagan came clean about Iran Contra, so he like Panneta also came in at a "make or break" point for the Reagan Presidency, even though Reagan was term limited at that point.

James Baker did a respectable job in Reagan's first term as well, and Haig also did a respectable job considering all that he had to deal with. McDonough did a decent job to, as it seems like the Obama White House was better managed in the second term than it was in the first with Rahm (who I've always loathed politically) and Daley.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Andy Card