As the White House grappled with the unpredictable nature of Ebola on U.S. soil, one aspect of the government's response was relatively easy to forecast: Sooner or later President Obama would turn to a fixer to help solve the problem.

In a second term in which the administration has moved from one crisis to the next, Obama has repeatedly resorted to using outside operators to right the government's course, rather than simply deploying his Cabinet members.