Adams was one of the most powerful men in Washington during the six years he served as Chief of Staff. Because of Eisenhower's highly formalized staff structure, it appeared to many that he had virtual control over White House staff operations and domestic policy (a 1956 article in Time entitled "OK, S.A." advanced this perception). The extent of internal strife between strong-willed personalities was chronicled in his 1961 memoir First Hand Report. Among the heated conflicts within the Eisenhower administration were the best method to handle flamboyant personalities such as U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, whom Adams and Eisenhower decided to torpedo when McCarthy started attacking the U.S. Army. Adams was a frequent broker of such controversies. Adams was willing to make the partisan comments that Eisenhower stood aloof from, thus making Adams the main target of the Democrats. Adams generally stood with the liberal wing of the Republican Party, in opposition to the conservative wing of Taft and Barry Goldwater. Eisenhower often dependent upon him for the evaluation candidates for top-level appointments. Adams handled much of the patronage and appointments that Eisenhower found boring. He fired people who had to go.