The White House Staff: Inside the West Wing and Beyond

Rating:
Summary: Great White House reference
Review: "The White House Staff: Inside the West Wing and Beyond" serves as a wonderful organizational guide of the White House, principally describing the responsibilities of the major policy offices and how the senior personnel discharges these responsibilities. In doing this, author Bradley Patterson makes his major argument that policy implementation and coordination is being drawn away from line departments and centralized in the White House.

From national security advisor to press secretary, Patterson does a great job describing in detail what each position does. Patterson divides the book into four parts. The first part, a short two chapters, tries to position the reader atop the "White House gates" by showing the overall organization and how post-war presidents have all strengthened power in the White House. The second part takes up the bulk of the book, as Patterson goes into detail about the "not-so-bashful bureaucracy" and explores each position and office. Part three is one short chapter about the professional staff of the White House, including information on Air Force One, Camp David, the Secret Service, and more. This chapter is quite interesting. The final part of the book is spent looking to the future of White House service.

In the end, this book is a thorough description of what goes on in the White House. It is a long read, and I do not recommend reading it in one sitting (unless you are about to work in the White House!). Instead, this book is a great way to read about the broad organization of the White House (part 1). The reader can then explore the offices or position that he is interested in. This is perhaps the most beneficial quality of the book - it is organized in such a way to allow the reader to jump around from topic to topic. "The White House Staff" in effect is the "Dummies guide" to the White House and serves as awesome reference material.

Rating:
Summary: Encyclopedic yet Engaging
Review: An excellent, encyclopedic account of the modern White House. Patterson manages to give a lively description of how the White House works, while consciously avoiding all but the most serious and relevant topics concerning the White House. A must-read for anyone interested in the administration of the modern White House

Rating:
Summary: A User's Manual for the 21st Century White House
Review: Bradley Patterson has done our democracy a great service. In this captivating book, Patterson offers a comprehensive but fluid explanation of the responsibilities of all the White House offices -- and illuminates the web of interactions between these offices that make the modern White House run like clockwork (most of the time, at least). This book would be useful for anyone entering government service, and it offers valuable insights on the do's and don'ts of White House staff work. After reading this surprisingly insightful book, I was definitely left with a stronger understanding of the presidency. If only we could convince Patterson to write a similar book on all the major departments and agencies of our government, his collected work would probably constitute the most cogent and accessible guide to the Federal government available today.

Rating:
Summary: A great book for the politically minded
Review: I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to find out what its really like to serve as a member of the White House staff as opposed to what may be portrayed on television. This book reveals that most staffers are hardly the fast-quipping, terminally righteous characters from The West Wing but are instead human beings attempting, like all of us, to do the best job possible and all the more admirable for it.

Anyway, this is one of the most detailed examinations of the Presidential staff that I've ever read. Each chapter is dedicated to a different part of the White House staff and basically gives a detailed job description which makes clear their sometimes murky duties. Even such often-ignored folks like the White House kitchen staff get notice of their own. Overall, one comes away with a real appreciation for the hundreds of individuals who contribute to keeping this country moving forward. Also filled with anecdotes (many of which I hadn't come across before), this book should definitely be of interest to anyone who follows politics.

Rating:
Summary: You Will Get A Lot of Use Out of This Book
Review: The reference book that makes it all comes together. Ok so the book does not really bill its self as a dull reference book but it has all the info needed to understand who does what in the White House. The book is anything but dull, the author has broken down the different departments within the White House and explains each of them in just a wonderful, easy to understand manner. In order to stay away from just a dull listing of the tasks the author drops in interesting facts and stories from the last few administrations that bring extra meaning and understanding to the explanations.

A good, well-written book that will help the reader understand who does what in the White House.

Rating:
Summary: You Will Get A Lot of Use Out of This Book
Review: The reference book that makes it all comes together. Ok so the book does not really bill its self as a dull reference book but it has all the info needed to understand who does what in the White House. The book is anything but dull, the author has broken down the different departments within the White House and explains each of them in just a wonderful, easy to understand manner. In order to stay away from just a dull listing of the tasks the author drops in interesting facts and stories from the last few administrations that bring extra meaning and understanding to the explanations.

A good, well-written book that will help the reader understand who does what in the White House.

Rating:
Summary: How the white house works
Review: This book gives a detailed but still readable account of the mechanics of White House (as opposed the the entire executive branch) operations. The author presents an organization chart (not produced by the WH) and what he claims to be the first WH budget. The text is nicely peppered with insider anecdotes.

The text starts with the meaty, policy offices and goes all the down to the residence staff.

I skipped the seemingly extensive information on the offices of first lady, the VP and the VP's Spouse (the 2nd lady? The vice first lady?).

Yes, I am a huge West Wing fan. And Charlie should be be carrying a 6-inch thick three ring binder with the schedules of all four principals with the relevant briefing books.

Rating:
Summary: An Insider's View of the White House Office
Review: This book was informative, engaging and very revealing. Patterson systematically unveils the various departments and duties of the little recognized White House Office. Although it is a long read, the knowledge gleaned from this book is practical and valuable.

Rating:
Summary: Good factual information about the White House
Review: This is a very interesting book about how the White House operates and the key offices under the jurisdiction of the White House. Bradley Patterson fills his book with insight and information, yet the book is still very readable and anything but boring. This is a non-fiction account of the White House and its offices. It is not a biography nor is it one persons account of his year's in the White House. It is very much a factual account of the daily workings of what takes place in government. This is a very interesting book that I would recommend for people interested in learning more about government. It is also a very good resource for those who are doing research on the inner workings of the White House.