Stephen Hess - What Do We Do Now? November 18, 2008

The period from Election Day to Inauguration Day in America seems impossibly short. Newly elected U.S. presidents have less than eleven weeks to construct a new government composed of supporters and strangers, hailing from all parts of the nation. In What Do We Do Now? Stephen Hess draws from his long experience as a White House staffer and presidential adviser to show what can be done to make presidential transitions go smoothly.

Here is a workbook to guide future chief executives, decision by decision, through the minefield of transition. You’ll have to start at the beginning, settling on a management style and knowing how to “arrange all the boxes.” Something as seemingly mundane as parceling office space can be consequential—hence the inclusion of a proposed White House organizational chart and floor plans of the West Wing. What qualities are needed for each job, and where are the best candidates for those positions most likely to be found? How can you construct a cabinet that “looks like America”? What Do We Do Now? is your indispensable guide through the thicket of these decisions.

Stephen Hess, a veteran staffer of the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations and an advisor to Presidents Ford and Carter, focuses on the presidency, the news media, and the political culture of Washington.

Recent media coverage includes:

• Hess was a guest on the national NPR program, The Diane Rehm Show.
• Steve had columns published in both The Washington Post and The Politico based on the book.
• The book was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and mentioned in a USA Today cover story.
• He participated in a Washington Post on-line chat about the transition.
• Steve appeared on the CBS Evening News, CNN, and the Lehrer NewsHour (PBS) and was interviewed by the local Fox 5 News morning show.
• He was one of the featured speakers at a Brookings event on transitions, which was carried live by C-SPAN.

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