The Week

■ In choosing Sam Skinner as his new chief of staff, the President continues to steer a careful course between the Scylla of pragmatism and the Charybdis of principle.

■ Only the chief executive can know finally what is the usefulness of his chief of staff. When the chief executive is a political official he needs to measure not only his own but others’ satisfaction; and the complaints against John Sununu, George Bush finally decided, outweighed Sununu’s virtues. Outsiders are not in a position to judge the impact of Governor Sununu’s abrasive irradiations, but it is fair to remind ourselves that one of his central responsibilities—to keep conservatives contented—was made difficult by the big capitulation of a year ago. At that time Mr. Sununu was badgering Congress to accept the new budget bill, from which conservatives inferred that he was being unfaithful to his credentials as a conservative. In fact he was probably simply executing, in his own way, the President’s decision. One cannot blame John Sununu for the chaos that has caused the sharp decline in presidential prestige. Nor can conservatives measure the support the eloquent and learned Mr. Sununu gave the President on those crucial questions concerning which he has held so steady a course, specifically, a conservative judiciary, opposition to abortion, and intelligent support for that much of the military-industrial complex as brings strength to the United States.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

National Review

■ In choosing Sam Skinner as his new chief of staff, the President continues to steer a careful course between the Scylla of pragmatism and the Charybdis of principle.

■ Only the chief executive can know finally what is the usefulness of his chief of staff. When the chief executive is a political official he needs to measure not only his own but others’ satisfaction; and the complaints against John Sununu, George Bush finally decided, outweighed Sununu’s virtues. Outsiders are not in a position to judge the impact of Governor Sununu’s abrasive irradiations, but it is fair to remind ourselves that one of his central responsibilities—to keep conservatives contented—was made difficult by the big capitulation of a year ago. At that time Mr. Sununu was badgering Congress to accept the new budget bill, from which conservatives inferred that he was being unfaithful to his credentials as a conservative. In fact he was probably simply executing, in his own way, the President’s decision. One cannot blame John Sununu for the chaos that has caused the sharp decline in presidential prestige. Nor can conservatives measure the support the eloquent and learned Mr. Sununu gave the President on those crucial questions concerning which he has held so steady a course, specifically, a conservative judiciary, opposition to abortion, and intelligent support for that much of the military-industrial complex as brings strength to the United States.