Page 292 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

editing, and proofreading skills to each chapter and was an invaluable
resource to me as I brought all the elements of this book together. Diane
Yu, former president of the WHFFA, is responsible for securing the pro-
ject’s initial approval, and went on to pave the way for all the interviews
that would follow. She also encouraged me to think beyond the 35 high-
profile people I had originally selected for inclusion in the project and to
invite the entire alumni network to participate.
Also helpful in supporting the project was Myrna Blyth, recent chair of
the President’s Commission on White House Fellows and former publisher
and managing director of the Ladies’ Home Journal and More Magazine. Janet
Eissenstat was the Director of the President’s Commission on White House
Fellowships during the time I was writing this book, and she provided a great
deal of support and was kind enough to link me with recent Fellows who had
interesting stories to tell. Other former directors who assisted me were Tom
Carr, Stephen Strickland, Hudson Drake, David Miller, Arthur Dewey, Ber-
nard Loeffke, Landis Jones, Marcy Head, Jackie Blumenthal, Jocelyn White,
and Brooke Shearer.
Many people who were connected with the program in its early years
offered priceless perspectives and support as I stitched together the history
of the White House Fellows. Tom Johnson helped me gain extraordinary
access to the LBJ Library and its collection of historic documents and tapes.
Bill Moyers, David Rockefeller, Bill Friday, and former Secretary of Labor
Willard Wirtz were more than charitable in sharing their unique insights
into how the program came together and how it functioned early on.
Because of their long tenures on the White House Fellows Commission,
Dana Mead, Roger Porter, and Fred Benson offered a treasure trove of
anecdotes and details about how the program’s selection process has evolved
over the years. And Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose White House Fellow-
ship set the stage for her to become one of Lyndon Johnson’s most trusted
confidantes, took time from her busy schedule as a Pulitzer Prize–winning
writer, historian, news analyst, and Boston Red Sox fan to generously share
her one-of-a-kind perceptions of LBJ.
Several White House Fellows are recognized nationally for their schol-
arship on leadership, and their ideas have found their way into the pages
you read. Tom Cronin is the author, coauthor, or editor of 12 books on
American government and politics, and countless articles and scholarly
papers on leadership. He is the McHugh Professor of American Institutions

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