Talk:List of United States political positions appointed by the Executive Branch

Article Beginning
I normally shy away from political articles on Wikipedia. It seems one has to back up every statement with numerous impeccable sources and even then any disparaging information (even if true) gets removed. Most of the political articles on Wikipedia are disgustingly bland even if the person in questions is a scoundrel.

It seems that in the last six years the Bush administration has made a habit of appointing people to positions who actively hate the agency they are heading up and do everything in their power to weaken and cripple that agency. Like appointing a coal mine owner to the department of mine safety, or someone who hates environmentalism to head the EPA. The recent scandal involving US attorneys being fired for not going after Democrats, or conversely, for going after Republicans is also a perfect example.

Maybe I'm just too young to have noticed previous Presidents who have done this.

Because of this, however, when I see a person on the news speaking I want to know if they were appointed by the President, and more importantly, if they can be removed by the President at whim. Many times the news cites such people as 'knowledgeable sources' but if they serve at the whim of the President then for all intents and purposes they are spouting his party rhetoric and ideology.

Since this is a simple list (albeit it could become quite long) I don't think stating simple facts would engender too many NPOV/revert wars.


 * Tiki God 20:23, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Article Title
The title is a little cumbersome, but it's the best I could come up with while still making the meaning clear. I was thinking of:

List of United States positions appointed by the Executive Branch

instead. I'm not sure if 'positions' in this context is clear though.


 * Tiki God 20:23, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe the title is not entirely accurate: for instance, the Supreme Court justices, though appointed by the President, can not be considered "political" positions; nor can, for instance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The title could possibly be changed to, say, "List of United States federal government positions appointed by the Executive Branch"? (Cumbersome, I agree) Dr Gangrene 23:05, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Future Additions

 * Cabinet Positions
 * Judiciary
 * Ambassadors
 * Heads of Federal Departments / Offices / Agencies

I could really use the input of a political wonk who knows this information and also the correct terminology. Politics is not my strong suite. ( although I do love Lists ;) ).


 * Tiki God 20:23, 14 March 2007 (UTC)


 * What exactly are the columns "Restrictions", "Tradition", and "Exceptions" for? Could some or all of them be folded into "Notes" instead? Dr Gangrene 14:30, 28 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Sweet additions so far, nice job. I've been so busy I kind of forgot that I made this.


 * I'm more technical than political so bear with me:


 * 'Restrictions' is who can not serve in the position, like a naturalized citizen or a convicted felon. The same way a naturalized citizen can not be President according to the constitution (too bad Arnold).


 * 'Tradition' is not required by law but something that has been followed for a long time. For instance I think (I could be wrong) that no recent member of the Supreme Court was not previously a Lawyer and Judge. Technically there is no requirement that a SP Justice be these but no President has ever tried to nominate a non-lawyer recently.


 * 'Exceptions' would be, for instance' ways around the appointment like a recess appointment, or certain times or emergencies that allow for a speedy(ier) appointment (like during war). Also times when the House and/or Senate abrogated it's oversight responsibilities temporarily (like during wartime).

I think what I wanted to get at is that the 93 States Attorneys 'traditionally' resign at the end of a President's term. If the Presidency switches parties, most, or all, of them are replaced. If the Presidency stays in the same party but has a new President, then most are kept but some may be replaced. If the President stays the same, usually nearly all are kept. In the history of the US Attorneys only a few have been replaced during their President's term and Bush's firing of 8 or 9 after appointment is more than all previous President's combined.


 * Tiki God 04:18, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Already done
Basically, you are recreating The Plum Book.

68.105.50.50 03:43, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Plum Book
I've discovered that I don't really have the stomach for political articles, but it does look like the information INSIDE the Plum Book is what is supposed to be in this article. Still I guess someone has to actually copy the info to this page (if it's not copyrighted).


 * Tiki God 01:48, 12 May 2007 (UTC)