Nation: Carter's Professional Politician

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Following that standard, Kraft drives his battered 1969 Ford to the White House by 8 a.m. every day, stays past 8 p.m. and puts in some weekend hours as well. There are job lists to consider, a sea of memorandums from the Cabinet departments, political invitations for presidential visits. Gone is the time for backpacking trips or even the occasional poker game that he once enjoyed. He counts himself lucky to spend a little time on Sundays at the pool in the backyard of the Georgetown house he shares with Jordan and Presidential Pollster Pat Caddell (Kraft's marriage broke up recently after just ten months).

It has been quite a change for the political vagabond who never held one job very long. "I don't mind," he says. "The work is stimulating. The people are great. And after all, it's a finite commitment. Just eight years."