Interest Groups and the White House under Roosevelt and Truman
As an institution, the American presidency is shaped by a wide range of influences, some contemporary in nature while others are embodied in precedents derived from earlier administrations. Analysts, therefore, are confronted by the need to work within multiple time frames.' What appears to be an innovative departure in the structure or operations of the presidency may, in fact, be an extension of practices developed by earlier administrations. The emergence of public liaison as a White House staff specialization illustrates this analytic problem. Early in the presidency of Gerald Ford, White House assistants responsible for liaison with a variety of separate interest-group constituencies were relocated into a single Office of Public Liaison (OPL). This new office included aides assigned to work with blacks, white ethnic Catholics, women, youth, Jews, Hispanics, American Indians, the elderly, business, labor, and consumers. The Carter White House adopted a different structure for assigning specialists to work with virtually the same range of organized interests, but Ronald Reagan reestablished much of the original OPL structure upon assuming office. As a new component of the White House staff, public liaison has not yet developed as clearly articulated a role as the press office or congressional relations, but its staff has concentrated on several activities: linking White House policy makers with knowledgeable spokespersons of organized interests, particularly those likely to be affected by policy