The Backstairs Battle for White House Influence

President Reagan’s White House staff isdivided into three parts:the upstairs part headedby the pragmatic James Baker,the downstairspart headed by the conservative William Clark,and the backstairs part patrolled by theirassistants,who tell the press about the differencesbetween upstairs and downstairs.There have been differences among mostpresidents’advisers ever since Thomas Jeffer-son was accused of relying on an"invisible,inscrutable"group of associates that engagedin"backstairs influence."So the current ru-mors of a struggle for the president’s mind amongthe Big Four—Mr.Baker,Mr.Clark。