That the White House had no institutional memory—the problemprompting the White House Interview Program (WHIP)—represents justone area in which the White House 2001 Project affected thepresidential transition. In appointments, the Pew Charitable Trustsidentified a second transition problem. In 1996, the TwentiethCentury Fund produced a blue-ribbon study outlining several issuesundermining the appeal of government appointment. The study,entitled Obstacle Course: The Report of the TwentiethCentury Task Force on Presidential Appointment Process,convinced Pew to focus on the recruitment of presidential nominees.As part of that initiative, they contemplated a computer programthat would reduce the burden placed on nominees by filing numerous,intrusive, and repetitive questionnaires.