Editorial Reviews:
When George W. Bush and his staff finally got word he had officially won the 2000 presidential election, they only had 37 days left to shift from campaign mode to governing. Fortunately for the Bush team, a group of presidency scholars had gathered and provided them with a wealth of substantive analysis about presidential transactions and White House operations. With information covering six administrations and interviews with 75 former senior White House officials as well as with President Gerald Ford, the White House Interview Program proved an important resource for the new occupants of the West Wing. This work gathers and digests the same material that was provided to the incoming White House staff. Its individual chapters contain a veritable "how to" manual: information on the dynamics of White House operations; the functions of seven critical White House offices; and the actual transition of President Bush. In a final section, scholars and Bush administration insiders offer brief views of George W. Bush's unique transition into office. In addition to Kumar and Sullivan, scholars contributing to the volume include: Peri E. Arnold, Maryanne Borrelli, John P. Burke, George C. Edwards III, Johh Fortier, Karen Hult, Nancy Kassop, John H. Kessel, G. Calvin Mackenzie, Norman Ornstein, Bradley H. Patterson, Jr, James P. Pfiffner, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, Charles Walcott, Shirley Anne Warshaw and Stephen J. Wayne. The section on the Bush transition also contains an essay by Clay Johnson, executive director of the Bush-Cheney Transition and now director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. The project was sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and carried out by members of the Presidency Research Group of the American Political Science Association.
Customer Reviews:
 A worthy glimpse of the workings of American government
Compiled and edited by Martha Joynt Kumar (Department of Political Science, Towson University) and Terry Sullivan (Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), The White House World: Transitions, Organization, And Office Operations is an imposing collection of scholarly essays by a variety of learned authors. Drawing from interviews with seventy-five former senior White House officials representing six administrations (as well as with former President Gerald Ford), to present a picture as assembled by top political scientists of what really goes on in the White House West Wing, The White House World would well serve future White House administrations seeking practical advice on how best to organize their presidencies. Topics scrutinized include the mechanics of Presidential transition, the role of various offices such as Press Secretary or The Office of Communication, and a special focus upon President George W. Bush's transition. A worthy glimpse of the workings of American government itself, The White House World is an invaluable contribution to Political Science reference collections and reading lists.
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