The Man with Six In Boxes

A White House aide rarely gets to write his own job description, but that's what Roger Porter did back in 1980. While teaching government at Harvard, Porter wrote Presidential Decision Making, a book describing a system in which the President designates "honest brokers." These senior aides, unlike Cabinet officers, are not wedded to particular policies or constituencies. The broker's job is to elicit advice from each department that has a stake in a decision. The broker then helps distill the main arguments and options for the President, who ultimately hears a few senior advisers debate head to head.

This model nicely fit the wide-open White House that George Bush wanted. So he recruited Porter, 43, whose mild and cerebral persona almost defines honest broker, to play the role for domestic issues. National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft does the job for defense and foreign policy.

More than half the White House's work flows through Porter's six In boxes --including an URGENT one for briefing papers and memos, many of which bear little blue handwritten notes imprinted FROM THE DESK OF GEORGE BUSH. Before signing on, Porter says with a chuckle, "I thought he was interested mostly in foreign policy."