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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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082189
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08218900.040
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1990-09-19
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NATION, Page 20The Man with Six In Boxes
A White House aide rarely gets to write his own job
description, but that's what Roger Porter did back in 1980. While
teaching government at Harvard, Porter wrote Presidential Decision
Making, a book describing a system in which the President
designates "honest brokers." These senior aides, unlike Cabinet
officers, are not wedded to particular policies or constituencies.
The broker's job is to elicit advice from each department that has
a stake in a decision. The broker then helps distill the main
arguments and options for the President, who ultimately hears a few
senior advisers debate head to head.
This model nicely fit the wide-open White House that George
Bush wanted. So he recruited Porter, 43, whose mild and cerebral
persona almost defines honest broker, to play the role for domestic
issues. National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft does the job for
defense and foreign policy.
More than half the White House's work flows through Porter's
six In boxes --including an URGENT one for briefing papers and
memos, many of which bear little blue handwritten notes imprinted
FROM THE DESK OF GEORGE BUSH. Before signing on, Porter says with
a chuckle, "I thought he was interested mostly in foreign policy."