External Constraints: Cronyism
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FEMA has had 15 directors since 1979!
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Its history has been riddled with cronyism that set the stage for "normal
accidents"
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Reagan's first FEMA director, Louis Giuffrida, resigned: FBI corruption and
cronyism investigations
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Bush 41's choice, Wallace Stickney, presided over the Hurricane Andrew fiasco,
which triggered a NAPA study and recommendations for redesigning FEMA
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Clinton's choice, James Lee Witt, was the first director with actual disaster
management experience, competent cronyism, and he implemented the NAPA
recommendations and turned FEMA into a "model agency," increasingly a high-
reliability organization that learned from its mistakes
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Bush 43's choice of Joe Allbaugh restored the tradition of incompetent
cronyism, underscored by the ascension of his college crony, Mike Brown