Replies

Good Lord. The chief of staff is NOT the president's personal secretary. Those are two separate positions. The chief of staff is the main conduit to the presidency. To see the president, the person must almost always get permission from the chief of staff first. He controls who sees the president and has power in many other areas and obviously has influence with the president since the president chose him for the job and is a trusted adviser.

The president's personal secretary types memos and answers the phone; calls people and tells them to hold the line and that the president will be on the phone shortly. The two most well known private or personal secretaries to presidents were probably Rose Mary Woods to Nixon and Betty Currie or something like that to Clinton. Rose Mary Woods is the one who stepped on the pedal and erased 18, 19 or whatever minutes on one of Nixon's tapes and Betty Currie was somehow involved in I think the Lewinsky scandal in some way. Both made the front pages of the newspapers, but they were the personal secretaries and definitely not chiefs of staff.

Since you think private and personal secretaries are the same as the chief of staff, you disqualify yourself from further discussion of this topic.

Newt will definitely not be chief of staff. First, he would never subject himself to that type of work at his age. It is tough and demanding and suitable to someone much younger. Newt is a thinker, not a desk jockey the way the chief of staff is. I mean really - go educate yourself.