Look for an Ickes or Two

By Hugh Sidey

Harold Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior under Franklin Roosevelt, once got a phone call from the White House, and one of those self-inflated aides began the conversation with, "The President wants you to ..." The experienced curmudgeon quickly interrupted: "Oh, yeah? Then let me talk to him."

That is the most succinct and accurate explanation of what is described as Cabinet Government: a President and a Secretary working together with no in-betweens. Ickes knew Roosevelt's heart and mind and devised brilliant policy innovations within that framework. The Secretary battled adversaries, wooed friends, took sweeping bows for success, the kicks in the pants for mistakes, argued vehemently at times with Roosevelt but in the end loved the President and his cause beyond himself. Roosevelt knew it and honored him. Ickes took few orders from underlings.

Ronald Reagan wants to try a modern version of Cabinet Government. If he is lucky, he will have a loyal Ickes or two in his group. The larger question is whether he can in some fashion duplicate Roosevelt's management of strong people in difficult jobs. The most encouraging sign is that Reagan wants to try. The second good omen is that he plans to set the direction from the top and trust his people to take care of the details while achieving his goals. Whether or not he holds full Cabinet meetings, none at all, or gathers supercommittees within the Cabinet, matters little. The issue is the distribution of authority.

The academic skepticism is thick. The Carter people scoff; they tried the same thing and failed. Conventional wisdom suggests that Government is too complex these days for Cabinet officers to have true authority. The problems, say the experts, cut through several departments and agencies and only the White House can arbitrate them. In that environment, Presidents turn to the men nearest them. Aides become, in effect, Cabinet members.

It may work out that way for Reagan despite his best intentions. The fact is that no President since Dwight Eisenhower has really wanted Cabinet Government, their public declarations notwithstanding. John Kennedy thought he knew more about almost anything than his Cabinet. L.BJ. installed himself as king. He ruled on every detail. Richard Nixon ignored domestic matters and in foreign policy bypassed the State Department, which he did not trust. Jimmy Carter never did know where he wanted to go--and neither did his Cabinet.

A proper power relationship between the Cabinet and the President's aides is essential--and the White House staff belongs in the lower echelons. More important than anything else is whether Reagan and his people have enough confidence and humility to shift the great media spotlight from the front lawn of the White House to the offices of the Cabinet Secretaries. There were actually days in Ike's time when Press Secretary Jim Hagerty would open and close the daily briefings by saying: "There is nothing here today." Pentagon news most often came from the Pentagon. Developments in Agriculture were announced by the Secretary of Agriculture.

In Kennedy's Administration, the White House began to take upon itself the responsibility for all major announcements that could be used for the personal and political benefit of the President. Later Presidents were even more determined to take credit for everything good the Government achieved. Cabinet Secretaries today hover at the dim edges of power and authority; with luck they are occasionally brought to the Oval Office to share triumph with the President. The consequence of this media maneuvering by the White House is that Cabinet officers are peripheral figures, ranked below a President's personal staff in actual power. Indeed, the fact of diminished importance has followed the perception. Maybe a lifetime on the stage has taught Reagan that in a good act all the important players get some of the spotlight.

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