It can't be done. We've given up. The White House staff reflects Carter's lack of success as a Government manager. Hamilton Jordan is the President's senior adviser and is sometimes regarded as chief of state. In fact, however, no one has had that title and function, or even a standing mandate to keep things moving by cracking the whip over his colleagues.
Major assignments rotate from office to office, and much is handled on an ad hoc basis.
Jimmy Carter consults everyone, and there is no one coordinating and making sure there is focus. The tightly knit and provincial Georgia Mafia, which dominates the staff and enjoys the best access to the President, has slowed Carter's integration into the Washington scene and has limited his effectiveness. Nowhere has the White House's lack of experience hurt more than in its relations with Capitol Hill. It is probably true that any President would find it extraordinarily difficult to control of even work smoothly with today's independent and assertive Congress. Dissatisfaction over the past Administration's handling of the Vietnam War and Watergate has enhanced Congress's powers and sense of independence.