wandering int0 the Oval Offce and getting the President's ear. ltjust gets very disorganlzed, and you can't manage it. You need tO set in place 0 processes for whatever the set Of issues is. をゾツをはえ SUTPHEN: I used to be abig fan ofto-do lists, but the tO-dO list actually tOOk tOO much time. Because I very rarely was able to scratch things offthe to-do list when I did do the to-do list, I found it a very dissatisfying exercise. I kind of stopped doing it. BROWN : We sent senior staff clear templates for hOW a memo tO the President should be written, hOW a briefing memo for an event that the President's going to be doing the next day should be written. lfyou think about it, ifyou're the President and you start getting stuff ⅲ a gazillion A gIObe in the WhiteHouse medicalofflce different formats, you can't make head or tail ofit. signed byPresidents Obama, George Ⅳ Bush, FURMAN: Thereweretimes in 2009whenwe BiIl Clinton and George H. Ⅳ Bush didn't agree on the technical design ofa small- business-lending program. Because we couldn't re- but yes, always be nice t0 the prompters. You're solve it ourselves, we brought that disagreement to going t0 rely on people a 10t more than you think. the President. ln retrospect, it's pretty embarrass- I could not dO it without our fact checkers and my ing that we were bothering him with details as small researchers. Be nice t0 everybody. They'll save as that. Big disagreement on philosophy on how to your butts from time tO time. deal with autos? Bring that to a President. should ABRAHAM : Emotions can get high. lt's really impor- you dO a 10 % or 15 % matching rate for your new tax tant tO remember tOjust be a good person, a nice credit for such-and-such? ProbabIyworth personto the people around you, people you disagree figuring that out on your own. with in debate, people you workwith on a day-to- BROWN : You fight this constant battle of day basis. My personal beliefis that the building people trying t0 go around you. There were functions best when there's a real ethos ofjust being days I felt like a schoolteacher, you know, decent t0 the people who work around you. rapping somebody's knuckles. lfit's done MCCORMICK LELYVELD: There are cultural sen- right, people appreciate it, because they can sitivities that come naturally tO the chefs because get le 仕 out t00. What goes around comes Of their training. SO ifwe're hosting someone from around. Your jOb is tO be an honest broke r. another country, what are the dietary concerns? TO tee up decisions in a fair, balanced What are the celebrated foods? What are the cul- fashion. You shouldn't be putting a thumb tural pieces reflected in cuisine that make the visit on the scale. PeopIe do need to trust that. 0 Ⅱ the level that the White House should be? ABRAHAM: I remember 'tting in the PHILLIPS: I got an email in early December 2008 East Wing early on when we all heard a 仕 om two civil servants at GSA who wrote a white loud noise that none Ofus familiar paper tO the incoming Obama Administration. I with. Keep in mind, I had never seen Marine One ended up detailing one ofthe women who wrote it. land, and l'm not sure I had ever been around a She taught me what a detail was, which is basically helicopter. I had certainly not yet been in a work that you can request that another agency lends setting where it was normal for a military helicopter you a person for six months. SO she wrote her own to land within earshot ofmy desk. After we realized detail, and I got her to come work at the white what the heckwas going on, we all ran to a window House. Then she helped me start detailing other t0 try t0 catch a glimpse. people in, and she taught me about procurement. DEES E: lt wasn't until I came over here, and we She taught me about acquisition, and a few months had been here in government for several months, later our offlce had its own budget. that I realized just how little we knew. I think that RHODES : For me, it's been the foreign service. nothing can prep are you. The world has changed a ton in the last 15 years, P FEIFFER: There are a lot ofreally good people and people who've had to be out at embassies, at the White House who will help you figure out understanding the constraints of other countries ' things like how to live your day-to-day. people politics and other trends, often have a much better work in the mess, and the career employees in the feel for what is possible and what is not than White House are incredibly helpful to people. commentators in Washington. The government is KEE NAN : Fortunately, the teleprompter guys んⅡ ofpeople who have to face reality as it is every are military, so they know what they're doing, single day ⅲ every country ⅲ the world. 28 TIME January23, 2017 ・ lt's really important tO remember tOjust be a good person. ' ー Y 0 H A N N E S A B R A H A M ABRA 工 AM: THE W 工 ITE 工 OUS 粤 GLOBE: PETE SOUZA—T 工 E W 工 ITE 工 OUS CLINTONS: WILFREDO LEE_AP