The White House communications operation has developed into a formidable force in Washington politics and a central feature of modern presidential leadership. Beginning with a press secretary and small staff in the late nineteenth century, presidents have assembled a massive White House operation of at least 350 people (p. 5) to advocate, justify, defend, and coordinate a president's central task: persuasion through communication. In Managing the President's Message, Martha Kumar provides a comprehensive and inside account of the communications operations of recent presidents and the difficulties they experienced in attempting to communicate effectively.

Kumar adeptly synthesizes countless elite interviews and personal observations into a discernible set of four functions performed by the White House communications operation. An effective communications team must first advocate for the president. Advocating involves getting the attention of the American people through presidential speeches, including the State of the Union address, and establishing and promoting a policy agenda, often on the White House's own terms and before the media raise questions. Second, the team (but mainly the press secretary) explains presidential actions and thinking by answering reporters' questions about the president and his policies. The president can communicate with the press directly through press conferences (Chapter 7), brief exchanges, or interviews. Third, defending the president is important, especially when reporters are critical of the White House's explanation of presidential decisions. Finally, the communications office facilitates coordination of presidential publicity with those in and outside of government.

Kumar elucidates each of these functions with numerous examples from the Bill Clinton (Chapter 2) and George W. Bush (Chapter 3) administrations. Whereas both recognized the importance of effective communications to a successful presidency, it was the Bush administration that began more strongly, establishing a clear plan to advocate major policy initiatives, such as tax cuts and education. Yet Bush's operation faltered during the tumultuous first year of his second term (Hurricane Katrina, the nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court) because his organization was less adept at defending the president and responding to unanticipated crises. Clinton's operation improved over his tenure as he added expertise (David Gergen). It was also flexible enough to defend the president quickly, excelling in damage control, which culminated in Clinton's survival of impeachment. Although much of the focus is on other actors, Kumar does not ignore the impact of individual presidents and concludes, consistent with other research, that the White House communications organization—and its success or failure—is at least in part a reflection of what the president brings with him (personality, expertise, interest, preferences, and advisers) to the White House.

Besides presidents themselves, advisers (Chapter 4) and press secretaries (Chapter 5) play the most important individual roles in effective communications operations. Although a successful presidency depends upon the talents that these individuals bring to the White House and their abilities to manage their responsibilities effectively, each position differs. Basically, press secretaries must meet the expectations of the news media to be effective, whereas communications directors' relationships with the president and chief of staff define their bodies of work. As she does with other chapters, Kumar organizes the immense descriptive information around the key responsibilities of both positions. The communications director must help communicate and sell the president's policy agenda, yet shift gears to manage his reelection campaign. In addition to acting as a conduit of information between the president and the press, representing the views of the White House before the Washington press corps, and running the press office, the press secretary plays a central role in the gaggle and daily briefing (Chapter 6). Kumar supplements these generalizations with specific information as well. She catalogs who served in these capacities, illustrates a typical but long day in the life of a White House press secretary (pp. 215–21), and recounts specific gaggles and press briefings (pp. 230–32). She also provides original organizational charts of several communications offices and a seating chart of a presidential press conference.

What is a striking yet underdeveloped idea of the book is that the communications operation of the White House has become even more important (but perhaps less effective) as network news has faded from prominence. No longer do the American people “gather around the network campfire every night” (p. 3). Instead, the fragmentation of the news audience and the decentralization of news media have complicated presidential leadership and presidents' impact on the American political system. Having said this, Kumar implies the consequences of these changes only with observations from key players in the president's communications operation. Thus, it is up to the reader—and perhaps future researchers—to take the wealth of information provided by the author and place it in this broader context. We now know what the White House communications operation looks like from the inside, and Kumar has summarized effectively the key trends and developments in presidential communications, including what makes for a successful operation (Chapter 8). Future research must examine systematically how this matters for the effectiveness of presidential success, leadership, and the future of American democracy.

In the spirit of Richard Fenno's Home Style (2002), Kumar offers scholars a rich and detailed account of arguably the most important organizational feature of the modern White House. Her unprecedented access to insiders like Mike McCurry, Dan Bartlett, and Karl Rove helps her detail what central figures in the White House think and have done to facilitate presidential communication. Many of her observations, such as that polls are used primarily to establish how best to sell a policy priority, rather than to determine public support for the president or his policies (p. 58), also serve to corroborate findings of political science research. Although this book does not develop a theory or test hypotheses, as much political science work does, it is an exemplary illustration of descriptive research at its best. Without question, it should be of interest to anyone who studies the presidency, media, organizations, or American politics.