The Politics of Smoking in Federal Buildings: An Executive Order Case Study

Abstract

Executive orders are important presidential tools for health policymaking that are subject to less public scrutiny than are legislation and regulatory rulemaking. President Bill Clinton banned smoking in federal government buildings by executive order in 1997, after the administration of George H. W. Bush had twice considered and abandoned a similar policy. The 1991 and 1993 Bush proposals drew objections from agency heads and labor unions, many coordinated by the tobacco industry. We analyzed internal tobacco industry documents and found that the industry engaged in extensive executive branch lobbying and other political activity surrounding the Clinton smoking ban. Whereas some level of stakeholder politics might have been expected, this policy also featured jockeying among various agencies and the participation of organized labor.