Syracuse University's Jude Michaels found that most of George H.W. Bush's Senate-confirmed appointees were doctors, lawyers, or Ph.D.s with considerable experience. Lower-level appointees, however, are less credentialed. Even so, tens of thousands of campaign workers and contributors seek jobs in government, but only a few hundred are chosen. The relatively few campaign workers who do win jobs are usually capable enough to help government. In surveys of career executives, pluralities rated their agency s Bush and Clinton appointees as being competent.
Most appointees also stay in place long enough to do some good.
Political appointees work hard. A National Academy of Public Administration study found that three-quarters of appointees in the Reagan administration reported working more than 60 hours a week. Nearly as many reported stress in their private lives. No one thinks the workload has declined since. Chiefly, political appointees do political work, dealing with the White House, Congressional staffs, interest groups and the news media.