I’m actually not surprised that they’re tired. This article says that Andy Card gets no more than four or five hours of sleep a night—and when he’s not asleep, he’s literally on the job. Even his days off are apparently not entirely his own, because he goes cycling with the President on those days. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley apparently works a six-day week. Admittedly, it’s natural to expect that this would to some extent be par for the course for the people in such high-ranking positions—and it’s also true that there are some people who enjoy this sort of breakneck pace. However, human beings are not machines—and even machines eventually break down when they’re pushed too hard for too long. It would be interesting to find out just how many of the White House staffers to whom the article refers are under treatment for high blood pressure—I’m inclined to guess that the number is rather high.

It’s also quite possible that one contributing factor to this fatigue among the Bush staff is that they’re being forced to focus more and more on damage control—the last three Presidents to serve two terms have all spent the second term battling criticism and scandal (Watergate, Iran-Contra, the Lewinski affair).  The administration is being asked to answer for some of its decisions—the insurgency problem in Iraq, the NSA wiretapping, the Dubai ports deal—and work loses some of its enjoyment when you’re spending most of your time trying to cover your backside and fighting criticism. It’s no wonder that these folks are tired.