Letter Advising President on Public

Letter Advising President on Public Policy and Political Science

To the President-Elect of the United States,

I would like to congratulate you on a successful election and thank you for naming me to your advisory committee, the opportunity to assist your administration's domestic and foreign agenda is one I have relished since joining your campaign. As a veteran of Washington's often convoluted political process, I would like to begin my official duties by engaging in a frank discussion designed to demonstrate the realities of modern policymaking within today's heightened partisan hostilities. It is especially important to learn hard lessons from the recently concluded Obama Administration, which suffered from a continual inability to pursue its policy agenda after lofty campaign rhetoric was tempered by political gridlock and obstructionist policies from Congressional opposition. By studying the successes and failures of previous presidencies, especially the ambiguous legacy of your predecessor, you can gain a greater understanding of the challenges awaiting you, while sharpening your ability to address these challenges effectively.

One of the most important factors for any elected leader within a democratic governance structure to consider is the role of the press in distributing information and shaping public opinion. While previous presidencies were bound by the traditional forms of print and visual media, today's White House has the advantage of the internet and social media when crafting the messaging used to appeal to the public. As the Obama Administration recently learned, however, the position of authority does not make one immune to advanced attacks launched in the online realm, which is why you must be prepared to filter any efforts to advance your political agenda through the lens of today's technologically integrated society. A policy advisement issued by a prominent political scientist during the early stages of President Obama's first term predicted that "the experiences of the Clinton and Bush presidencies offer a consistent and sober warning to the Obama White House: although the introduction of new technology offers new opportunities for the White House, opponents or even allies with perspectives of their own are unlikely to lag far behind in exploiting the internet" (Jacobs), an assessment which proved to be accurate. As President, one of your chief responsibilities for the next four years is to effectively communicate America's ideals to an increasingly skeptical audience, both at home and abroad, and unless you are prepared for the fluid nature of modern media dissemination, these efforts will be stunted from the onset.