Word: added
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...moment in the play's second act, Heidi (played by Joan Allen) stands behind a lectern on a bare stage, giving a luncheon speech to the alumnae of the prep school she once attended. Slowly the successful veneer of Heidi's life is stripped away as she tries to ad-lib a free-form answer to the assigned topic, "Women, Where Are We Going?" Heidi's soliloquy ends with these words: "I don't blame any of us. We're all concerned, intelligent, good women." Pause. "It's just that I feel stranded. And I thought that the whole point...
Among the advantages of ad-hocracy, says Porter, is that "it communicates the image of a President personally in command." Among the disadvantages: it "frequently results in jurisdictional battles," and since "ad-hocracy does not differentiate between major and minor issues," the President's agenda can easily get muddled. In an interview, Porter emphasized that "most new Presidents engage in ad hoc decision making." He sees Bush's curiosity and openness as strengths. Another Administration official adds that the easy access the President grants is "one of the reasons people love to work...
...Still, ad hoc decisions can lead to posthaste confusion, as quickly became apparent on Capitol Hill. When the Tower nomination appeared to be doomed, White House counsel Boyden Gray, a longtime Bush favorite who often acts independently of others on the staff, pressed for postponement of a vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee. But at the same time, White House lobbyists were pressing for an early vote...
Bush and his aides seem to be realizing that the presidency is too wide a stage to control by ad-hocracy. The trick will be to impose coherence without stifling the President's spontaneity. If the White House can do so, it should be able to recover quickly from the Tower disaster. Otherwise, barely halfway to his 100-day mark, America's 41st President may become hostage to outside events and forces...
NATION: The White House finds that Bush's free-lance style leads to government by "ad-hocracy...