[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[May 29, 1993]
[Pages 776-778]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Announcing White House Staff Changes and an Exchange With 
Reporters
May 29, 1993

    The President. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The objective of 
this White House and everyone who works in it is to improve the lives of 
the American people and to change their lives for the better. We have 
been working on that from the beginning. It takes the right people and 
the right organization to achieve those objectives. For the last several 
weeks the Chief of Staff Mack McLarty has been working to make 
appropriate changes in the White House to strengthen our ability to do 
our job for the American people.
    I am pleased today to welcome to the White House staff one of the 
Nation's most respected journalists and commentators, David Gergen. I 
have known David for many years. He is a trusted friend and a dedicated 
public servant. By agreeing to accept Mack McLarty's invitation to join 
the White House team he is demonstrating one of the qualities for which 
he is well known, a sense of patriotism that transcends partisanship.
    David Gergen is a Republican, as well as a longtime friend of mine. 
He is a moderate, prochange, patriotic American. We have shared many 
ideas over the years and found much agreement in the work I have done as 
Governor and with the Democratic Leadership Council and in many of the 
ideas I espoused in the campaign of 1992. I want him to help me make 
those ideas a reality in the lives of the American people.
    The message here is that we are rising above politics. We are going 
beyond the partisanship that damaged this country so badly in the last 
several years to search for new ideas, a new common ground, a new 
national unity.
    I am also announcing that my longtime and trusted aide George 
Stephanopoulos will be working with me more closely, as he did in the 
campaign, on important matters of policy and strategy and day-to-day 
decisionmaking, helping me to integrate all the complicated debates that 
confront my Office. One of the reasons for this move is that I have 
missed very badly and I have needed the kind of contact and support that 
I received from George in the campaign, that I think was absolutely 
essential to the victory that was secured.
    I'd now like to introduce the Chief of Staff and thank Mack McLarty 
for all the hard work that he has been doing, especially in the last few 
weeks, to try to strengthen the White House and make it able to do the 
things that we pledged to do for the American people. Mr. McLarty.

[At this point, Thomas McLarty, David Gergen, and George Stephanopoulos 
made statements in support of the changes in the White House staff.]

White House Staff

    Q.  Mr. President, the decision to bring in a Republican for this 
key position, does this mean you're going back to your centrist or New 
Democrat roots that you articulated during the campaign? And what does 
it mean about some of the more controversial decisions recently that 
suggested you were moving towards the more liberal wing of the 
Democratic Party, specifically your civil rights Assistant Attorney 
General nominee Lani Guinier? Do you still want her to become the 
Assistant Attorney General for civil rights?
    The President.  Today I want to talk about David Gergen, George 
Stephanopoulos, and the White House staff. The announcement that I have 
made today with Mr. McLarty--it was really his idea; I want to give him 
the credit for it; I wish it had been mine, but it wasn't--signals to 
the American people where I am,

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what I believe, and what I'm going to do.
    I did not get into this race for President to divide the American 
people. I got into the race to unite the American people and to move 
this country forward. I have always, throughout my public life, had 
supporters who were independents, who were Republicans, who were 
interested in ideas and movement and not in partisan gridlock and moving 
the American people apart. That's what I'm trying to do. That's what 
I've always wanted to do. And that's what this announcement today means.

President's Priorities

    Q. Mr. President, Mr. Gergen talked about scorching partisanship on 
Capitol Hill and elsewhere in this town. He said that four of the five 
last Presidents have been broken by the weight of the office that you 
now hold. Do you feel that you're at that point? Do you feel the weight? 
And do you feel there's a chance that you, too, could be broken by it?
    The President.  I don't know about the weight. I feel the 
responsibility. I have made a deliberate decision to move rapidly to do 
things which I think need to be done which have been neglected, and to 
push the agenda forward, especially on the budget. And as you know, 
we're moving forward in a record pace now with a very tough and 
difficult set of choices for the American people that I think will allow 
us to reclaim our destiny.
    I believe that, when the history of this administration is written, 
we will look back and see that taking on the tough decisions early was 
the right decision for the people of this country. But I have been very 
concerned that the cumulative effect of some of the things which are now 
very much in the news has given to the administration a tinge that is 
too partisan and not connected to the mainstream, prochange, future-
oriented politics and policies that I ran for President to implement. 
And that's what I want to do.
    I think that this will help me to be a successful President. But the 
issue is not whether I'll be a successful President, it's whether we'll 
have a successful country. And I believe we will. And I think this is 
one big step toward that today.

Improving Communication

    Q.  Mr. President, with your public opinion polls fairly low right 
now, does this change suggest an inability to get your message out so 
far, or change it?
    The President.  I don't think that anybody would be surprised to 
admit that the major work of this administration and the passionate 
concerns of this administration are not always the things which come to 
mind in what's being communicated to the American people. So do we want 
to improve our ability to communicate what we believe and what we're 
doing? Yes, we do.
    When I had the nationally televised town hall meeting here last week 
and all those people came up to me and said afterward how much better 
they felt about their country having been here and having had a personal 
conversation, knowing exactly where I and where my administration is 
coming from, what our values and objectives are, it made it utterly 
clear to me that if the American people knew exactly what we were doing, 
just like they did on the night of February 17th, they would support 
these tough decisions and these difficult changes.
    On the other hand, I think it unrealistic ever to assume you can 
take on the kind of challenges that we are trying to take on without 
having some momentary bumps and runs in the public opinion polls. We 
can't be governed by that. But what I want to know is that the American 
people at least know me, know who I am, where I'm coming from, and more 
importantly, know what our administration is about. Then whatever their 
opinions in the polls will be will actively reflect the reality of who 
we are and their judgment about it. That's all I want. And I think 
that's what the communications can do.

President's Priorities

    Q.  Mr. President, you've made much of cutting the White House staff 
in an effort to reduce Government spending. With the addition of Mr. 
Gergen and the rumored addition of others, doesn't that seem out of 
keeping with a leaner White House staff?
    The President. The White House staff is going to be much leaner than 
it was before, but the number one task that I have is to serve the 
American people. Let me just give you an example. One of the things we 
never could have anticipated is that we'd get more mail here in 3\1/2\ 
months than the White House did in all of 1992.
    I am cutting the Federal Government. I am cutting the White House 
staff. We are doing that. But I think our number one objective is

[[Page 778]]

to serve the American people well. And that's what we're trying to do.
    I have got to go to West Point. I am going to be late, and that 
would be a terrible mistake. I owe it to the graduating seniors at West 
Point to get them off on their military careers on time. I'm sorry.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 7:30 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.