President Trump shakes hands with White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly after he was sworn in July 31, 2017. (Pool photo)
Los Angeles: Outgoing White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly defends his rocky tenure
In August 2017, shortly after John F. Kelly became White House chief of staff, he convened crucial meetings on Afghanistan at President Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J.
Top officials from the Pentagon and the CIA, the director of national intelligence, diplomats and lawmakers huddled with Trump as Kelly and others urged him not to give up in Afghanistan.
“When I first took over, he was inclined to want to withdraw from Afghanistan,” Kelly recounted during an exclusive two-hour interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“He was frustrated. It was a huge decision to make ... and frankly there was no system at all for a lot of reasons — palace intrigue and the rest of it — when I got there.”
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WNU Editor: An excellent post from the Los Angeles Times on its interview with White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. There is a part of this post that did clicked with me ....
.... On most days, he said, he woke up at 4 a.m. and typically came home at 9 p.m. Then he often went straight into a secure area for classified reports and communications so he could keep working.
“I’m guarded by the Secret Service. I can’t even go get a beer,” he quipped.
I mentioned a month ago when everyone knew that John Kelly was leaving on how exhausting such a job actually is. I said that because I know someone who had this type of government position. He told me the same thing on how exhausting the work and responsibility is. You never sleep, and you never have any time for friends and family. And when you retire .... you leave feeling free, but also worried that your replacement will not be up to the job.
That is why IMHO .... and from what I know .... John Kelly served the President and country with honour and distinction. He will be hard to replace.