Jack Lew Should Take a Cue from the Nixon Era

If the new OMB director wants a quick refresher on management issues that linger in the federal bureaucracy, he need look no further than a nine-page memo written in July of 1970, write Jitinder Kohli and John Griffith in The Hill.

Restoring Social Trust in Democracy, Government Reform

President Barack Obama’s nominee to be next Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jack Lew is no doubt planning on drawing on his experience in the position during the Clinton administration. If he wants a quick refresher on management issues that linger in the federal bureaucracy, he need look no further than a nine-page memo written in July of 1970.

We recently unearthed the memo, which Nixon advisor Fred Malek drafted for George P. Shultz, then-director of the newly formed OMB. It was an attempt by the 33-year-old future president of Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines to outline some of the principal management challenges the agency would have to address in its inaugural years.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Hill. Click here to view the full article.

The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.