It would be hard to find two more experienced or better certified Washington insiders than Mr. Culvahouse and Mr. Johnson. They probably come as close to the old model of Washington wise men as anyone left and both are known for their experience and tact. The likely presidential nominees “know they better find someone who knows the local travel customs,” says Evan Thomas, co-author of the book “The Wise Men,” and author of “The Man to See,” a biography of Edward Bennett Williams, the superlawyer who advised many Democratic politicians.
It suggests that real power in government does not lie in the elected leaders but in the permanent group of well connected figures who actually know how the governing process works. Those who choose to ignore these figures, like Carter in the late 1970s, risk being ineffective.
Men like Mr. Culvahouse and Mr. Johnson are really more mediators than fixers. They are the sages of what Ralph Nader famously dubbed Washington’s “permanent government.” Elected officials came and went, but their aides stayed, earning their stripes as lobbyists and consultants, or joining the city’s leading law firms, some of which became as influential as the real pillars of government. Beginning in the 1980s, an increasing number of former senators and House members joined their ranks.
At a time when government was being derided as bloated and gridlocked, these mediators became the capital’s institutional memory and storehouse of arcane legislative expertise. They were necessary for enacting bills, advising lawmakers and politicians running for office, and brokering deals. When confirmation hearings become rocky, the mediators almost always surface, to escort and whisper in the ears of nominees as they testify.
Whether this is good or bad is something we can discuss in class.
