Ok might be a stupid questions but it wont be the first one I asked on here lol so what does...

[southernleftylady]

the chief of staff do exactly? Do they select people or is it the prez? tia

[NightWatcher]

1. he's in charge of a big stick?

[Eryemil]

2. So maybe dear ol' Barney might have been good for the position after all eh?

:evilgrin:

[dems_rightnow]

3. Well, they

Manage the president's schedule, and act as an executive assistant, handling many duties. Their primary job is to take pressure off the President so he can focus on other things. Nobody gets an appointment with the President without the Chief of Staff agreeing to it.

It's a tough job, and no Chief of Staff has served for an entire administration since the 50's.

[Catch22Dem]

4. Start with the pilot episode of West Wing and study Leo McGarry

THAT'S what a CoS does. :D

I'm kidding of course, but it's just such a good show!

[HamdenRice]

5. The chief of staff determines who gets to talk to the president

and what information he sees. He is the chief of the executive staff of the president's office.

The problem is that every CoS tends to create a bubble around the president determining who he sees, what he reads and so on -- including even contact with other cabinet level officers.

That means the CoS tends to predefine what the issues and options are before the president even makes any decisions.

[southernleftylady]

6. Thanks for answering me yall :) nt

[Greyhound]

7. CoS is very like an office manager. (S)he will hire the rest of the staff,

set the POTUS schedule and, handles the details and assignments to creating and rounding up votes on the President's legislative agenda. Most importantly, he will act as the night club bouncer that determines who gets time with the big kahuna and who doesn't.

One of the powers behind the throne.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. The Chief of Staff

is the one you have to go through, over, under to get to the President.

I worked a long time ago for a man who had been Harry Truman's Chief of Staff. History came alive when he told me stories. Then, one day, he asked me if I wanted to see "the place where I used to work."

He took me two blocks over to the White House, where President Carter was waiting to meet us. My boss had a book he wanted to give President Carter. It took two months to arrange the meeting.

It all went through Carter's Chief of Staff, Ham Jordan.

Here's a pretty good description of what the Chief of Staff to the President does:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Chief_of_Staff

[HamdenRice]

9. This will scare you: Dick Cheney was Gerald Ford's chief of staff

and the evil fucker managed to cause the Ford administration to do lots of stuff Ford was barely even aware of.

Cheney's operating method was largely learned as a chief of staff.

[ColbertWatcher]

10. You gotta watch"The West Wing." Explains everything. Go rent the DVDs from the library. n/t