ABSTRACT
This chapter posits that throughout his presidency, Barack Obama and his White House staff oversaw not only the major policy decisions, such as those of counterterrorism, by the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense, and State departments but also became so deeply involved in those decisions that speeches given by cabinet officers were often written in the White House. It provides an overview of White House–cabinet relations broadly. The national security cabinet constantly battled with the White House over micromanagement, leading not only to internal dysfunction at times but to post-administration books by retired cabinet officers who held deep-seated resentment about Obama's management style. The president's counselors would be in the White House, not the cabinet, which immediately became clear when cabinet appointments were announced. The chapter weighs how well management of advisory structures served the president and the potential lessons for President Donald Trump.
