The Bill Daley era on Monday screeched to a jarring, clattering conclusion.
Daley, who departs after a little more than a year as President Barack Obama?s chief of staff, was never a great fit inside the West Wing ? and Obama and his closest aides realized that mere months into his tumultuous tenure.
Continue ReadingPeople close to the situation tell POLITICO that Daley decided to bolt nearly a year earlier than expected in part because he felt marginalized. He was still involved in most key meetings, but he had waning influence, particularly over political decisions made by Obama?s inner circle.
Daley, a charming if blunt former Commerce secretary, had an even rockier relationship with key Hill Democrats, especially Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.). So the selection of low-key budget expert Jack Lew as his replacement was greeted with relief among Democratic lawmakers.
?You can be an outsider from Washington for the last 10 years, or you can be an outsider to Obama?s inner circle,? said one senior Democrat, summing up Daley?s tenure. ?But you can?t be both.?
Here are five reasons why Daley struggled as chief of staff, culled over the past few months from White House staffers, former Obama administration officials and other Democrats.
1. Daley?s power was gone. People close to the situation say Daley isn?t dumb, mean or maladroit. He?d simply been out of the D.C. game too long, more than a decade, and had no intuitive feel for the insular circle of close advisers who surround the president.
Daley, the son of legendary Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, irked some in the West Wing with his faith that collegial, backroom deal-cutting with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would work. He believed that the Washington he left after serving in the Clinton administration still existed and counseled Obama to go all-in on a grand bargain with the speaker despite signs of tea party revolt in Boehner?s caucus.
To his credit, Daley was philosophical about it. Senior adviser David Plouffe and Lew also supported the Boehner deal (National Economic Council Chairman Gene Sperling was reportedly the highest-profile aide to raise objections), but Daley saw it as his role to take the fall and joked ruefully and often about his sacrifice.
Daley wasn?t exactly a dead man walking inside the White House, but his juice box was empty. He remained unpopular among some staffers, the result of a more hierarchical management style, a closed office door and a formal, businesslike manner at odds with a group that prides itself on informality. He also had a habit of freelancing, including his decision to sit down for a frank, expletive-laced interview with POLITICO?s Roger Simon ? without informing Obama?s communications staff.
He recently had made a major accommodation to his internal critics, re-instituting the popular 8:30 a.m. meeting he had scrapped after his predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, departed.
But one former aide, speaking a few weeks ago, attributed several recent staff departures to frustration with Daley.
An email requesting comment from Daley on Monday wasn?t returned.
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