Politics & Power Quote by Richard V. Allen

Speed is the virtue being smuggled in as destiny. Richard V. Allen frames the early days of a presidency as a narrow window where staffing is not merely a managerial task but a moral obligation: "imperative". That word does heavy lifting. It turns what could be partisan preference into a civic necessity, pre-loading the argument so that disagreement can be painted as irresponsibility rather than an alternate theory of governance.

The real target is the bipartisan romance that flares up after elections, when pundits and rivals pressure a new president to "unify" by sharing power. Allen treats that idea as a liability disguised as maturity. The phrase "the 'other' party" is telling: the scare quotes make the concept of a legitimate counterpart feel like a media invention, a sentimental category rather than a practical governing reality. He is not arguing against cooperation; he is arguing against co-ownership.

Subtext: Cabinets are instruments of presidential will, not a miniature legislature. By warning that cross-party appointments "could contribute to inaction and inefficiency", Allen invokes a Cold War-era fear of drift: delay as danger, process as weakness, consensus as a recipe for paralysis. It is an argument for ideological coherence and chain-of-command clarity, pitched in the neutral language of efficiency.

Contextually, Allen wrote from inside the world where transitions are power battles with clocks attached. The quote reads like a technocrat's memo, but it's also a political thesis: unity is not a seating chart; it's outcomes.