Susie Wiles will be the latest occupant of the hottest job in Washington: Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
It’s a tough job even at the best of times, networking with lawmakers, administration officials and outside groups while keeping the White House running smoothly.
But it has been particularly difficult under Trump, who has a history of resenting anyone who tries to impose order in his chaotic management style. Four people served as chief of staff during his first term, and things sometimes ended acrimoniously.
Will the past be prologue? It’s impossible to know. Wiles has fared better than most in Trump’s orbit so far, and she just led his presidential campaign to victory.
Here’s a look at who came before her.
Reince Priebus
Priebus chaired the Republican National Committee while Trump was running for president in 2016, and he became Trump’s first White House chief of staff. Priebus symbolized the delicate alliance between the party establishment and Trump’s insurgency, and he struggled to balance the two.
The White House has been plagued by infighting and failed to advance legislative goals such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Priebus was sometimes seen as untrustworthy by various factions vying for Trump’s favor. Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as Trump’s communications director, crudely attacked him for allegedly leaking information to the media.
Six months into his first term, Trump expelled Priebus on July 28, 2017. The decision was announced on Twitter, which was normal during those tumultuous years.
John Kelly
Next in line was Kelly, who had served as Trump’s first Homeland Security secretary. Trump liked the way Kelly, a former four-star Marine general who served in Iraq, carried out his crackdown on immigration.
But he quickly grew frustrated with Kelly’s attempts to impose military-style order in a chaotic White House. Kelly clashed with the president and some of his allies, ultimately becoming more isolated and less influential.
Trump seemed so eager to get rid of Kelly that he announced his departure on December 8, 2018, without having a replacement.
Although Kelly held the job longer than anyone else, her breakup with Trump was ultimately the most acrimonious. He described his former boss in acid terms last month, saying Trump met the definition of a fascist and once praised Adolf Hitler for doing “good things.”
Mick Mulvaney
It took Trump days to find a replacement for Kelly, an unusual delay for such a critical role. He chose Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman who at the time headed the White House budget office.
The decision comes with an asterisk: Trump referred to Mulvaney as “acting” chief of staff, suggesting the position would be temporary.
Mulvaney abandoned Kelly’s strict management approach and decided to “let Trump be Trump.” Instead of managing a seemingly unmanageable president, Mulvaney focused on overseeing staff and working with lawmakers.
He held the position for just over a year, before leaving on March 6, 2020, after Trump was acquitted in his first impeachment trial.
Marc Pres
Trump turned to Meadows, a North Carolina congressman and head of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, to become his fourth chief of staff. It was a difficult time, with the coronavirus spreading across the United States and around the world.
Long seen as one of the obstacles to deal-making in Congress, Meadows played a leading role in negotiating pandemic relief legislation. He also came out as a loyalist as Trump ran for re-election against Joe Biden. Meadows oversaw a White House flooded with conspiracy theories about election fraud as Trump tried to overturn his defeat.
A former aide said Meadows frequently burned papers in his office fireplace during this period. Meadows refused to cooperate with a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and he was indicted in election-related cases in Georgia and Arizona. He pleaded not guilty.
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