Kelly is another who proved to be his own worst enemy ~ but even having said that, the thread title is IMO brilliant ~ who would want this job with this "leader" and in this WH??? ~ ~ emphasis/bolding below is mine ~ Sooz

Why would anyone want to be Trump’s White House chief of staff?
12/10/18 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen

The conventional wisdom was that Nick Ayers, a top member of Vice President Mike Pence’s team, would replace John Kelly as White House chief of staff. The White House had reportedly already prepared a press statement announcing Ayers’ new gig – right before he turned down the job.

By some accounts, other top contenders aren’t interested, either. Politico’s Nancy Cook reported overnight that the list is “shrinking by the hour.”

It’s worth understanding why.

One of my favorite stories about Kelly was published in August 2017, about five weeks into the retired general’s tenure in the West Wing. The Washington Post noted at the time that Kelly had taken some steps to control the flow of information and access to Trump. The president not only hated the new system, he resorted to reaching out to some of his more provocative associates “from his personal phone when Kelly is not around.”

It was a simple anecdote that pointed to a larger truth: the White House chief of staff had some ideas about bringing order and discipline to the West Wing, but Trump made sure those ideas failed.

It was an untenable dynamic that didn’t work and is now coming to an ignoble end.


The announcement itself was emblematic of the chaotic conditions in the West Wing. Four months ago, Kelly agreed to remain at his post through the 2020 election. When that arrangement failed, according to the New York Times, the president and Kelly agreed to a schedule in which the departing chief of staff “would break his own news on Monday, announcing his exit to senior White House staff members.”

Trump, as usual, had other ideas.

Imagine being a contender for Kelly’s job and watching events like these unfold.

When Kelly took the reins in the West Wing, it was widely assumed that the retired general, following a brief stint at the Secretary of Homeland Security, would command the respect Reince Priebus never enjoyed, and would be in a position to instill a degree of professionalism to the Trump circus.

Kelly’s failures now appear obvious, and by any fair measure, unavoidable. The problems plaguing this White House have little to do with the occupant in the chief of staff’s office and everything to do with the occupant in the Oval Office.

The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser recently described this as “the worst-run White House of modern times,” which seems more than fair, but which can’t be placed entirely at Kelly’s feet. Trump is, in a rather literal sense, uncontrollable. Every attempt to instill discipline and order was undermined by President Chaos down the hall.

Or put another way, Kelly failed at a job in which no one could succeed.

But that’s not to say he departs as a sympathetic figure. Like so many of those who begin their associations with Trump with their reputations intact, Kelly exits the stage with his reputation and stature severely damaged by his work in this White House. Not only did the departing chief of staff struggle in his principal responsibilities, he also took a series of controversial steps of his own that cast Kelly in a deeply unflattering light.

Earlier this year, for example, he made needlessly offensive comments about immigrants and their capacity to assimilate. As regular readers may recall, this came on the heels of revelations about Kelly’s role in the Rob Porter scandal, in which Trump’s chief of staff was less than honest about his knowledge of the allegations against his aide.

That story followed Kelly’s suggestion that some Dreamers are “lazy” immigrants. And that story followed Kelly’s highly dubious calls to the Justice Department, in which he reportedly conveyed the president’s “expectations” to federal law enforcement officials.

That came on the heels of an interview in which Kelly made some very strange comments about the Civil War. And that followed an incident in which Kelly lied about a House Democrat and refused to apologize.

Who exactly would look back at Kelly’s tenure and say, “How can I get that job?”

Postscript: Nearly seven years ago, Trump wrote on Twitter, “3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why [Barack Obama] can’t manage to pass his agenda.”

First, it’s “chiefs of staff,” not “chief of staffs.” Second, Obama governed quite well. And third, Trump will now have three chiefs of staff in two years, not three.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-would-anyone-want-be-trumps-white-house-chief-staff

Is anyone sufficiently masochistic to take the job?

NO! ~ just ... NO!!! ~ altho she just might meet oskar's criterion of "sufficiently masochistic" ~ ~ Sooz

‘Exactly what the president needs’: Republican strategist pushes Kellyanne Conway for chief of staff
Bob Brigham / 10 Dec 2018 at 18:30 ET

President Donald Trump, who once worked as a reality TV star character hyped for his ability to hire and fire, is having a difficult time finding a third White House chief of staff.

“Let’s talk about Trump’s chief of staff woes,” MSNBC anchor Katy Tur suggested. “He announces John Kelly is leaving, everyone looks to Nick Ayers and oh, no Nick Ayers doesn’t want to stay.”

“That would be embarrassing for any presidency,” Tur added.

She noted a number of contenders, including Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), Yankees baseball team president Randy Levine, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, former Trump campaign strategist David Bossie and Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Newsmax, the online publication owned by Mar-a-lago member and Trump friend Christopher Ruddy has suggested Jared Kushner as White House chief of staff.

However, one of Tur’s guests had another name to add to the list. Republican strategist Susan Del Perico suggested counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway.

“Someone else who hasn’t been mentioned — and only in the Trump universe would this potentially work — is Kellyanne Conway,” Pel Perico argued.

“Kellyanne was campaign manager, she knows how to handle Trump,” she continued. “She’s been in the White House for two years, so she’s seen the operations.”

“I know people are going to go berzerk on Twitter, but she’s a very smart woman,” Del Perico added.

Watch: [Video accessible via the end link or at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKrJh7GidzI]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/exactly-president-needs-republican-strategist-pushes-kellyanne-conway-chief-staff/

Why does this remind me of an act of simple middle-school revenge? ~ ~ Sooz

'This was a humiliation': Report shows how Trump's spiteful firing of John Kelly blew up in his face
Rumors about Kelly's imminent departure have been circulating for months.
By Cody Fenwick / AlterNet / December 10, 2018, 4:49 PM GMT

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is finally leaving his role in the administration, but it's not clear who will be taking over.

And according to a new report from Vanity Fair reporter Gabriel Sherman, President Donald Trump has his own shallow spite to blame for this embarrassing state of affairs.

Sherman reported in a new piece Monday that the decision to oust Kelly and replace him with the vice president's Chief of Staff Nick Ayers was made on Friday, and Kelly himself was supposed to be able to make the announcement to the staff on Monday. But it all fell apart. Trump was reportedly angry that Kelly tried to force him to promote Deputy Chief of Staff Zachary Fuentes to become interim chief of staff. According to Sherman, Trump was also mad that Kelly had been "badmouthing" him.

So on Saturday, Trump announced to the press pool that Kelly would be leaving by the end of the year.

“John wanted to announce his own departure," one source told Sherman. "This was a humiliation,”

But then Ayers pulled the rug out from under Trump, According to Sherman, he insisted that, even after he had agreed to take Kelly's job, he would only stay in it for a few months, which was unacceptable to Trump. Sherman also found that Ayers was reluctant to endure the scrutiny — particularly of his conspicuous finances — that was bound to come with the job.

Now Ayers is out, and few others appear excited about the prospect of taking on the job in this White House. Perhaps most embarrassingly, Sherman reports Reince Priebus has been discussed a possible Kelly replacement — the first chief of staff Trump fired.

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/was-humiliation-report-shows-how-trumps-spiteful-firing-john-kelly-blew-his-face

Too bad Mitch McConnel is otherwise employed. He's one of the few sleazy enough for the job.

And why not - she fits right in with all his other know nothings, but who do know how to praise and lie for him - the people he eventually surrounds himself with. It is kinda funny and ludicrous at the same time

Being able to put "Chief of Staff to the President of the United States" would be a great enhancer on your resume - as long as you were a bit vague about which President.