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Chasing the buck.
NEW YORK, MARCH 6
HARRY TRUMAN is forever remembered for having said, "The buck stops here!" This came at a high moment in confusion and recriminations during the postwar federal scandals. It isn't by any means established that President Truman bungled his responsibilities as chief executive. What he said merely reflected his time in the Army, in which there is cognitive training on responsibility based on the chain of command.
This chain is unbending, and it is, for exactly that reason, implausible. It is one thing to draw an absolutely straight line from the lowest private to the Army commander. Anyone with a handbook describing promotions can do it. If today's exercise is to plot successive promotions until you reach four-star general, why go ahead. Junior can do it without thinking. In fact, not thinking will help.
Where complications enter in is with the commander in chief, who is not in the military line of promotion, but who has authority over the armed forces. Now, the complexity of command does not shield the commander in chief from formal responsibility. If the head of Walter Reed Hospital has done a lousy job, whom do you complain to, if not the secretary of the Army, who reports in turn to the president? But remember that this is a disciplinary question. The tougher question is: Whom and what do you blame?
Millions of Americans exercise responsibilities at various levels. At home, to begin with. On the job, of course. When businessmen and businesswomen are successful, their talents are sought by organizations ranging from the local branch of the Boy Scouts up to AT&T. When an organization appoints directors, the objective is to diffuse, not to concentrate, responsibility. The theory is that good management will result when responsibility is shared.
Of course the point arrives where it can't be shared, even as the moment comes for the soldier to shoot or not to shoot.
But the eagerness to blame President Bush for the mess at Walter Reed tells us that what we are engaged in is not a healthy exercise in management. It tells us that in search of an object of political contumely, we permit ...
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...America stands for--the good people of Walter Reed are giving the best of care to the men...incredible health care they receive here at Walter Reed. The doctors and nurses here are superb...I want to thank the volunteers at Walter Reed. Many of you are veterans. Many of...
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- Newspaper article from: Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) March 2, 2007 700+ words
...pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed," Gates said. "Some have...commission would review conditions at Walter Reed. President Bush expressed disappointment over...Yet some of our troops at Walter Reed have experienced bureaucratic...
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...WASHINGTON TIMES President Bush and first lady...wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical...the past. At Walter Reed in January...Bush went to Walter Reed by herself to...CAPTION(S): President Bush became emotional...
- Commission votes to close Walter Reed; Supports plan to move jobs beyond the...
- Newspaper article from: The Washington Times August 26, 2005 700+ words
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- Walter Reed conditions shock Clark, Braley.
- Newspaper article from: Waterloo Courier (Waterloo, IA) March 8, 2007 700+ words
...resigned last week. President Bush appointed former Senate...time to be focused on Walter Reed. U.S. Sen. Charles...announced today by President Bush is a good step in getting...management problems at Walter Reed and making sure conditions...
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...plans, most of Walter Reed's operations...be accepted by President Bush and Congress...to close down Walter Reed. "By that time...land exchange President Bush offered along...Smith said Walter Reed's closing would...
Source: HighBeam Research, Chasing the buck.