Jul 31, 2017

How to be an effective White House Chief of Staff

Axios

Hillery Smith Garrison / AP

The N.Y. Times' Peter Baker — who's writing a biography of James Addison Baker III with his wife, Susan Glasser — quotes the former chief of staff for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush: "You can focus on the 'chief,' or you can focus on the 'of staff.' Those who have focused on the 'of staff' have done pretty well."

  • "Baker's advice is aimed at those who become too full of themselves, acting as a quasi prime minister, as his successor Donald T. Regan did before making the fateful mistake of hanging up the phone on Nancy Reagan. ... Reince Priebus ... may have gone too far the other direction."
  • Today, "as John F. Kelly takes over Mr. Baker's old corner office with the fireplace and patio, he assumes probably the hardest job in Washington other than president."
  • "Kelly ... seemed to be the anti-Priebus. ... Kelly, 67, is more a generational peer and may take advantage of the president's reverence for generals to get him to listen as he did not to Mr. Priebus, 45 and neither wealthy nor a military officer."

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Coronavirus dashboard

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  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2:30 p.m. ET: 905,279 — Total deaths: 45,371 — Total recoveries: 190,710 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2:30 p.m. ET: 199,092 — Total deaths: 4,361 — Total recoveries: 8,362 — Map.
  3. Federal government latest: Vice President Mike Pence said that White House modeling suggests "Italy may be the most comparable area to the United States" in terms of coronavirus impact.
  4. State updates: Florida and Pennsylvania are the latest to issue stay-at-home orders, totaling 34 states and Washington, D.C.
  5. 2020 update: West Virginia is latest state to delay its primary — Bernie Sanders urged Wisconsin to delay April 7 primary.
  6.  🎧 Podcast: The Defense Production Act
  7. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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West Virginia is latest state to delay primary due to coronavirus

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West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice rescheduled the state's May 12 primary election to June 9 on Wednesday, citing fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, AP reports.

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