Posted by Tom Gable
The New York Times today reported the resignation of Louis Caldera, the point person on the incident where Air Force One flow low over the New York City to create a photo opportunity and scared millions. President Obama called for a review of the incident. Today, the White issued a seven-page review along with the photograph. The memorandum from deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, said that “structural and organizational ambiguities” in the White House Military Office led to a series of miscommunications and a lack of public notification.
“If he (Louis Caldera) had been aware that the flight would cause so much trouble or any embarrassment to the president or to the White House,” the report said, “he never would have allowed it to go forward.”
No kidding! In putting this idea together, Caldera and his colleagues must have been living in White House LaLaLand, where one can do no wrong in the most powerful office on earth. I doubt the White House press staff was involved. If they had been, a routine pre-event analysis would have made the risks abundantly clear and Caldera would have never authorized the flight. For details and ideas on creating your own pre-flight check list on special events, see the earlier post on April 30.
Tags: Crisis PR, government, issues management, media, news, research, stunt
