But its need for talented citizens to fill its posts of honor remains undiminished. And, fortunately, the nation's civic leaders remain willing to serve. That is most certainly the message from two surveys of past and potential appointees conducted on behalf of The Presidential Appointee Initiative. And of 580 civic and corporate leaders interviewed during the summer and fall of 2000, almost three-quarters said that presidential service would be both an honor and an opportunity to make a difference. But if the spirit of service is strong among America's leading citizens, the presidential appointment process is weak.
Past appointees view it as a burden at best, an ordeal at worst.
They report unnecessary delays and frustration at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. And the civic leaders who make up the pool from which future appointees will be drawn see the process as confusing, embarrassing, and unfair. Unless something is done soon to improve the manner in which presidents make their appointments, fewer and fewer of the nation's most talented leaders will accept the call to service. During the past summer and fall, Princeton Survey Research Associates, a nationally recognized opinion research firm, conducted telephone interviews with a cross-section of U.S. civic and corporate leaders on behalf of The Presidential Appointee Initiative. The 580 respondents included Fortune 500 executives, college and university presidents, chief executive officers of the nation's largest nonprofits, think tank scholars, lobbyists, and state and local government officials.