Let it Snow, let it Snow

President Bush’s appointment of Tony Snow as his press secretary brings a whole new element to the White House press office, and the Democrats are treating it as such.

Never before has appointment of a press secretary begun immediately with a smear campaign by the opposite political party. It was as if the Democrats feared the sting of a capable new press secretary even before he sat down at his desk. It appears they are trying to make anything he says sound political.

In effect, the Democrats have treated this like an appointment to the Supreme Court, digging up his past comments to undercut what he may be called upon to announce later. As a former talk show host, Mr. Snow can be quoted often in past criticism of the administration and the president, but talk show hosts are paid to be controversial.

This appointment is different in several ways. Most press secretaries have had either a newspaper or a campaign background. Mr. Snow is only the second broadcaster to become a press secretary, though he also has extensive experience as a newspaper columnist and editorial writer.

The first broadcaster to hold that office was Ron Nessen, who served President Jerry Ford, after Jerald terHorst resigned the post after about a month when Mr. Ford pardoned Richard Nixon in an effort to put the Watergate scandal behind the White House. Mr. Nessen served 1974-77.

On the day his appointment was announced, Mr. Snow calmly handled his situation by saying: “Look, they want people to express their opinions. You’re not coming in here to drink Kool-Aid, you’re coming into here to serve the president. And at this junction I think what you want is as much honest counsel as you can get. So when I agree, I agree. When I disagree, I disagree. But on any vote, his is the tie-breaker…. The president’s the guy who runs the place.”

Mr. Snow is conservative, personally, and he is known as an independent who always has been willing to speak his own mind. That was true when he was a speechwriter for former President George H.W. Bush. He sometimes treaded a fine line, but he knew his place, and no one accused him of disloyalty.

Mr. Snow, who will take a major cut in pay to do the job, has the full backing of Dan Bartlett, the president’s senior assistant for communications. “I’m excited,” Mr. Bartlett says. “We first were worried about Snow’s recent bout with cancer, but we were delighted when he gained full medical clearance. Tony brings to us 30 years experience in the media and in government. I like the fact that he has a reputation for being innovative, and we can use that.”

Mr. Bartlett confirms Mr. Snow will have full White House access, though he also says Mr. McClellan had more access than the press believed: “Snow will be more involved with the president.”

Mr. Bush has not had a strong press secretary, and that has been a problem in his relations with the media. His initial press secretary was Ari Fleischer who served with him during his first presidential campaign. Mr. Fleischer left office in July 2003, at a time when he was unpopular with the press, which felt he was not fully truthful. That damaged his credibility.

During President Johnson’s time, Arthur Sylvester, a former newsman and press assistant to the secretary of the Navy, once espoused a theory that the government has a right to lie. That was one of the worst statements ever made by a press aide, and it cost him his job. Ari Fleischer was no Arthur Sylvester, but fairly or unfairly, he was damaged by a lack of credibility.

Scott McClellan, whom Mr. Snow succeeds, was criticized for a seeming lack of knowledge of the subjects he was announcing. “It was like he was reading from cue cards, and you got the feeling he was a deer in the path of headlights,” one reporter said. George Condon, Copley News Service Washington bureau chief, said: “Scott just didn’t make news, and most of the time I found his sessions to be a waste of time.”

Tom Johnson, Lyndon Johnson’s final press secretary, suffered a tough press when it was his president who lost credibility over Vietnam. Tom Johnson says, “sometimes when I honestly did not know the answer to a question, I would admit that and say I would come back with an answer.”

Mr. Johnson, who later became publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and head of CNN, had close access to the president, as did his predecessors, George Christianson and Bill Moyers. But their president sometimes would act on his own, leaving questions difficult to answer. That kind of problem was a factor when Johnson’s first press secretary, George Reedy, lost his job.

Tom Johnson, who was not related to the president, says the success of a press secretary depends on the president and whether the secretary gains full access to all key policy matters. “The press secretary is no better than the president lets him to be,” Mr. Johnson says.

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