Conventional wisdom might dictate that, amid a chaotic Trump presidency, the new chief-of-staff, John Kelly, would be able to bring order to the White House using his experience as a retired general. 

But that might not necessarily be the case, says Daniel P. Franklin, associate professor of political science at Georgia State University. He’s directly available to talk at [email protected]; logged-in registrants of Newswise also have access to his mobile/cell phone number in the contact box on this page. 

“Imposing military discipline in the White House may bring about order, but while military order might be good for a bureaucracy, it is not necessarily good for a White House,” said Franklin, an expert in the United States presidency. 

“The White House isn't a bureaucracy; it is a policy making institution,” he continued. “A certain amount of intellectual ferment is not necessarily a bad thing in the White House. The question is, can General Kelly impose order on the White House without harming its ability to create policy.” 

Franklin researches the executive branch, including presidents’ relationships with Congress. He is the of author of “Pitiful Giants: Presidents in their Final Term” (Palgrave MacMillian, 2014), looking at the final terms of recent presidents and their legacies.

Last summer, Rowman & Littlefield published a revised edition of his 2006 book, “Politics and Film: Political Culture and Film in the United States.” It explores popular movies and TV shows as indicators of social and political trends to explore the political culture of the U.S., including American Sniper, House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, and Twelve Years a Slave.

 More information about Franklin is available at http://politicalscience.gsu.edu/profile/daniel-p-franklin/. For assistance in reaching the professor, contact Jeremy Craig, Public Relations Coordinator at Georgia State University, at [email protected] or 404-413-1374. 

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