Ask the Scholar

Document scope · 1 page
doc
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory. For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
26080446
label
[Cabinet Retreat File (Retired)] [loose]
core
doc
dtoType
document
pageCount
1
Source metadata
Source extras
naId
26080446
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
otherTitles
42-t-2194630-20130359S-Seg2-007-001-2015
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
d459d493caaceb61
ocrText
MAGGIE WILLIAMS CABINET RETREAT FIL E (Retired) RECORDS MANA SEMENT Fill THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM TO: Christine A. Varney Secretary to the Cabinet FROM: Ann Stock AS RE: Cabinet Dinner DATE: March 24, 1994 In response to your inquiry desiring a Cabinet Dinner on Friday, April 22nd for Members of the Cabinet and several members of the White House Senior Staff in the Residence, this could be arranged. However, due to the Papandreou visit it would have to be after 6 p.m. CC: Mack Mclarty Maggie Williams Ricki Seidman THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON March 24. 1994 MEMORANDUM FOR ANN STOCK FROM: CHRISTINE A. VARNEY CAN Secretary to the Cabinet SUBJECT: Cabinet Dinner As you may be aware, we will be holding a Cabinet Work Session on Saturday, April 23. In conjunction with the day-long Saturday session we have planned to have a dinner for the Members of the Cabinet and several members of the White House Senior Staff on Friday, April 22. We had originally anticipated holding both events at Blair House. Unfortunately, Blair House is being used for the Papandreou visit and will not be available on Friday evening for the dinner. The dinner is an important part of the weekend's meetings. Is it possible to have the dinner in the Residence on Friday the 22? Please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks. cc: Mack McLarty Maggie Williams Ricki Seidman New WHITE HOUSE File, WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT February 23, 1994 MACK McLARTY FROM: CAROLYN J. LUKENSMEYER JANE HOPKINS RE: CABINET WORK SESSION On Friday, you are having an informal luncheon at Blair House with most of your Cabinet. This will be an excellent opportunity to mention the Cabinet work session and engage the Cabinet members about your ideas for the day and learn directly from them what they want to accomplish. WHO ATTENDS At Camp David in 1993, Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries attended the first Cabinet Retreat. Given the size of the group, we recommend that this work session involve only Cabinet and a small number of key White House officials responsible for policy development and cabinet affairs. That group might include Mack McLarty, Harold Ickes, Phil Lader, David Gergen, George Stephanopoulos, Tony Lake, Carol Rasco, Bob Rubin, Maggie Williams, Jack Quinn, and Christine Varney. WHEN Scheduling recommended March 4 and 5 for this event. When we checked with the Cabinet, Secretaries Christopher, Bensten, Reno, and Babbitt have previous commitments that we do not recommend cancelling. The next available date on your calendar is April 22 and 23. We recommend having the entire Cabinet present, if possible. Please advise -- Is your preference to have the entire Cabinet present, or to hold the work session as soon as possible? Please see next page. GOALS FOR THE DAY When we talked on January 28, you spoke about three major goals for the day: Set unified direction for 1994. Analyze what worked and what did not work in the operations of the Clinton/Gore Administration in 1993. Agree on action steps to improve the White House/Cabinet Agency interface in 1994. LOCATION FOR THE WORK SESSION Given that we plan to have dinner and then work throughout the next day, we recommend holding the work session at Blair House. Travel to Camp David for one day is not practical. PRESS STRATEGY In 1993, you did not get the credit you should have for holding the kind of meeting with your top team that took place at Camp David. Given the media's cynicism regarding this kind of work in the political/government sector, we recommend not calling it a Cabinet Retreat, but a Cabinet Planning or Work Session. We also suggest that you ask George Stephanopoulos and Mark Gearan to develop a press strategy for the event. It is essential that the event itself be a confidential session. You may want to discuss the Cabinet Work Session in your luncheon with the Vice President today. DECISION Hold the Cabinet Work Session on March 4 and 5, with 4 Cabinet members out Hold the Cabinet Work Session on April 22 and 23, with all Cabinet members present