Q: There was initially a lot of attention on the appointment of more than 20 czars by President Barack Obama. However it has been several years since the media has mentioned the czars. How many were appointed?
—Jim Whitehurst, Atlanta
A: There are varied estimates of how many czars serve, or have served, in the Obama administration. The University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center reported that Obama has had 32 czars and Politico published a list of 29 in 2009, but Justin Vaughn, a political science professor at Boise State, told Q&A on the News in an email that the President has had three czars. "The idea that Obama had 32 czars is a farce, as are claims that George W. Bush had nearly as many," said Vaughn, who is co-author, with Jose D. Villalobos, of "Czars in the White House: The Rise of Policy Czars as a Presidential Management Tool."
“Instead, some of these so-called czars only received the nickname because someone in the media gave it to them. As I like to say, it wasn’t so much that President Obama had a czar problem as it was that journalism had a vocabulary problem.” Vaughn identifies the three czars as Nancy-Ann DeParle (health care), Carol Browner (climate/energy) and Adolfo Carrion (urban affairs). “So, all said, Obama had nowhere near the number of czars media reports alleged, and the ones he did, with one major exception, were largely inconsequential,” Vaughn wrote. “Only DeParle had the authority and efficacy an evocative word like ‘czar’ would suggest.”
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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