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Presented by Walmart: | | | | |  | | By Alex Thompson and Max Tani | Presented by Walmart | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max We tried out something new today and had Nat Sec Daily and West Wing Playbook report on the same topic: JOE BIDEN’s cautious — some in his own party argue hyper-cautious — approach to military force. As ALEX WARD reported this afternoon in Part 1, it’s not just Ukraine where Biden has resisted calls for more aggressive military action (and subscribe here!). In tonight’s West Wing Playbook, we bring you Part 2: How and why Biden became so selective about military use. Throughout much of the 90's and early 2000’s, Biden was one of the more aggressive military interventionists in the Democratic Party. Now, he is among the more cautious. Former aides and colleagues say that Biden’s evolution predates his time as president and was shaped by a combination of his disillusionment with and regret over the War on Terror — military action he mostly voted for at the outset — and the deployment of his son BEAU to Iraq in November 2008, the month Biden was elected vice president. But the 1990’s were different. He regretted his vote against the 1991 Gulf War, perhaps his most notable vote of restraint in the Senate. “I think I was proven to be wrong,” he said in 1993. In the 90’s, Biden was one of the leading Democrats calling for U.S. military intervention in Bosnia and critiquing the Clinton administration. He voted for the second Iraq War and in the 90’s repeatedly pushed for bombing the country. Over the course of the Obama administration, colleagues remarked on how Biden often was among the most resistant to deploying the American military. Writing about the discussion to intervene in Libya in 2011, SAMANTHA POWER noted in her 2019 memoir that “Biden, who had advocated bombing Bosnian Serb Army heavy weapons back in the 1990's, had grown dubious about using US military force. He regretted having supported the invasion of Iraq and consistently advocated for winding down the war in Afghanistan.” She added that his “skepticism of a new military engagement also likely stemmed from the experience of having been the father of a soldier at war,” noting that he often told military families he now understood the JOHN MILTON poem: “They also serve who only stand and wait” (read it here). While detailing discussions over the future of Afghanistan, BARACK OBAMA wrote in his memoir that he “knew Joe also still felt burned by having supported the Iraq invasion years earlier.” Biden ultimately felt vindicated by his 2009 arguments against the surge in Afghanistan, which has only reinforced his instincts. Even in the face of bipartisan criticism over Biden’s abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, he remains sure it was the right decision, aides say. Biden has tried to recast some of his past hesitancy, however. While Biden has at times suggested he privately told Obama to proceed with the raid to kill OSAMA BIN LADEN, the 44th president offered a different recollection in his memoir: “Joe also weighed in against the raid, arguing that given the enormous consequences of failure, I should defer any decision until the intelligence community was more certain that bin Laden was in the compound,” Obama wrote. The White House declined to comment. MIKE HALTZEL, a Biden senior adviser on foreign policy from 1994 to 2005, while Biden was at times chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told West Wing Playbook that “everybody knows that [Biden] thought that Obama was getting rolled by the generals.” He also said he had later been with Biden while visiting Kosovo where they also saw Beau when he was deployed. “Beau was in the military and having your son in the military has to influence your feelings, I'm sure, about deployment.” Haltzel added that the situations in the Balkans in the 1990’s and Ukraine right now aren’t really comparable given the nuclear threat. Still, he said he thinks the less aggressive approach may also be the result of the office itself. “We'd be kidding ourselves to think that it doesn't matter if you're a senior senator, chairman of a committee, vice president — none of those comes even close to being commander in chief,” he said. “So I think the added responsibility — it’s not that he didn't think about these things before — but I think it weighs on his mind more. It just has to.” TEXT US — Are you ROB FRIEDLANDER, communications director for the Office of Management and Budget? We want to hear from you (we’ll keep you anonymous). Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr/WhatsApp Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427. | | | | A message from Walmart: Walmart pharmacies have a proven track record in expanding access to COVID-19 treatments, vaccines and testing to medically underserved areas. The retailer’s just-released COVID-19 one-year vaccine report details how Walmart’s role as a trusted voice in the community and all-hands-on-deck approach helped overcome vaccine reluctance and make inroads into keeping our communities healthy.
Read Walmart's COVID-19 One-Year Vaccine Report. | | | | | | From the University of Virginia’s Miller Center Which president attended church on Sunday's during his youth while his mother went to the racetrack? (Answer at the bottom.)
| | | TOURING TEST — The White House announced that it will be resuming official tours next month after years of extremely limited access to the public. It’s just the latest push from a White House that has wanted to project a return to normalcy (even while it warns of future Covid waves) after years of pandemic precautions that limited access to the building. While the White House is asking tour attendees to stay home if they have Covid symptoms or have been in contact with anyone who tests positive for the virus, mask wearing will be optional. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: Stories about the consequences of Congress not including billions of funding the White House has proposed to fight Covid. The White House’s warnings were the subject of a background call with reporters on Tuesday, as well as a letter to Capitol Hill urging Congress to take action to provide more funding for vaccines, testing, and monoclonal antibody treatments to combat or lessen the impact of future waves. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU READ: The Fed is preparing to announce new economic data on Wednesday acknowledging that inflation is growing and will continue to grow in the near future. The quarterly data are another painful sign for the White House, which for months argued that rising prices were simply a momentary side effect of the pandemic that would quickly subside. IT’S HAPPENING — Biden is set to head to Brussels next week to pay a visit to NATO leaders, the White House announced today. On March 24, the president will take part in a summit convened by NATO Secretary General JENS STOLTENBERG. He will “discuss ongoing deterrence and defense efforts in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine, as well as to reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our NATO allies,” press secretary JEN PSAKI said. More details from our SAMUEL BENSON. IT’S DOUG: D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company has a special guest for its traditional “Mock Trial” show: Second Gentleman DOUGLAS EMHOFF. It’ll be live-streamed on Monday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. with retiring Supreme Court Justice STEPHEN G. BREYER presiding. Emhoff and D.C. litigator DEBRA KATZ will act as advocates. The case is inspired by Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, according to the theater. KAMALA HARRIS’ office did not comment. COVID POSITIVE: Emhoff also tested positive for Covid today. Harris tested negative. A spokesperson added: "Out of an abundance of caution, the Vice President will not participate in tonight’s event." BFF BIRTHDAY: Biden’s longtime chief of staff and close friend, former Senator TED KAUFMAN , turns 83 today, according to Legistorm. Don’t forget to call, Joe! DOUG THE COMEDIAN — Emhoff visited a communal garden today, and our EUGENE DANIELS has photographic evidence:
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Tweet from Eugene Daniels | Twitter | | | | | WIN A VIP TICKET TO THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH! POLITICO and SHOWTIME are teaming up for an evening of cocktails and conversation featuring the POLITICO Playbook team and Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmieri from "The Circus" on Showtime in Washington, D.C. Enter for a chance to win a ticket to join fellow Playbookers and newsmakers at this exclusive, VIP event by Friday, March 18th. Winners will be notified on that date (travel and accommodations not provided, this is a widely attended event pursuant to House & Senate ethics rules). ENTER HERE. | | | | | | | | SANCTIONS ON SANCTIONS — The U.S. continues to roll out more sanctions against key players backing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday, the Treasury Dept. announced new sanctions against a number of top Russian officials and Belarusian President ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, prohibiting him and his family from entering the U.S. The move comes as Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY — who is slated to address Congress on Wednesday — has publicly and privately urged the White House to continue imposing greater sanctions on Russia in an attempt to gain more leverage in ongoing peace talks.
| | | | A message from Walmart:   | | | | | | EXIT — The Energy Department’s Chief of Staff TARAK SHAH is leaving, per an internal email West Wing Playbook obtained. "Today, I’m sharing that I will be departing DOE next month. I'm stepping away satisfied that DOE is the strongest it has ever been," he wrote. “With massive new investments, new organizational structures, and the right leadership team, I know DOE is primed to deliver on our goals. It’s why I feel comfortable stepping away so that I can recharge my batteries and continue to be the best champion I can be for our country and planet.”
| | | RASKIN OUT — SARAH BLOOM RASKIN withdrew as President Joe Biden’s pick to be the Federal Reserve’s top Wall Street watchdog, POLITICO’s KATE DAVIDSON reports. ANOTHER ONE: Biden’s nominee to be the chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representative, ELAINE TREVINO, also withdrew. MEREDITH LEE and DOUG PALMER report that "the withdrawal of Trevino’s nomination, however, will prolong the vacancy in a key role at USTR at a time when agricultural trade and rising food prices have attracted global interest.” FINALLY!: Biden finally has a director for the Office of Management and Budget. The Senate confirmed SHALANDA YOUNG 61-36 with 14 Republicans voting for her.
| | | U.S. Diplomats, Some in War Zones, Struggle to Get Paid (WSJ’s Jessica Donati) White House internships will be paid for the first time, opening the doors of the prestigious program to lower-income applicants (Business Insider’s Juliana Kaplan)
| | | The president received the President’s Daily Brief. He also signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act into law. Acting OMB Director SHALANDA YOUNG attended. Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN delivered remarks at an Equal Pay Day event in the East Room. Also attending the event: Emhoff, Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM, Young, DNI AVRIL HAINES, Council of Economic Advisers Chair CECILIA ROUSE, SBA Administrator ISABELLA CASILLAS GUZMAN and members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team.
| | | | DON’T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO’s new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | | She joined the president for the daily brief and the bill signing. Harris also spoke at the Equal Pay Day Summit and had a conversation with current and former USWNT players in the afternoon, including JULIE FOUDY and current U.S. Soccer Federation President CINDY PARLOW CONE.
| | | NIAID director ANTHONY FAUCI has stayed on track in part because of the influence of his wife, CHRISTINE GRADY, a nurse bioethicist. Grady told CNBC at the start of the pandemic that she made sure “to get him to rest, to drink water, to eat well, to sleep, and to be selective about what he agrees to and say no to some things.” Fauci is also very active and the pair maintained that activity through the pandemic. Grady said the two had “succeeded in walking a few times together.” You know what they say — a couple that power walks together, stays together!
| | | BILL CLINTON. He grew up in tumultuous circumstances after his father, WILLIAM JEFFERSON BLYTHE, died in an auto accident shortly before Bill's birth. When Bill was four, his mother, VIRGINIA, married ROGER CLINTON , a car dealer and abusive alcoholic. As a teenager, Bill played saxophone in a high school band and loved the gospel music of his Baptist faith. While his mother went to the racetracks on Sunday, Bill attended church, principally to hear the music he loved. MEA CULPA — In yesterday’s edition, we didn’t specify the year GEORGE SCHULTZ died. He died in Feb. 2021. That’s on us, and we regret not specifying. AND, A CALL OUT — Think you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your best question on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Paul Demko
| | | | A message from Walmart: Over the past year, Walmart's approach to COVID-19 has focused on meeting people where they are and proving that all health care is local. In addition to providing life-saving treatments and testing, Walmart has created useful tools to make vaccination information more accessible, initiated partnerships with local organizations to reach vulnerable communities, increased vaccination access with the "Get Out the Vaccine" plan and identified credible voices to share the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
With 90% of the population located within 10 miles of a Walmart, and 150 million customers passing through stores each week, Walmart is providing quality, affordable health and wellness services to Americans where they already live and shop. In the last year, Walmart has administered tens of millions of vaccines across the country, with 80% delivered in medically underserved communities.
Read Walmart's One-Year Vaccine Report. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
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