Obama’s cabinet takes shape

By Arthur I. Cyr

President-elect Barack Obama has now announced his top foreign policy as well as economic officials. At a press conference Monday, he identified choices for principal diplomatic, defense and national security posts. This follows announcements last week of senior economic officials. Women and African-Americans are prominent in both groups.

Media rumors have been confirmed with Sen. Hillary Clinton nominated to be Secretary of State, while current Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been asked to stay on.

Obama named Justice Department veteran Eric H. Holder Jr. as Attorney General, Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona to lead the Department of Homeland Security, former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James L. Jones as National Security Adviser, and Susan E. Rice of the Brookings Institution as Ambassador to the United Nations.

Earlier choices

Last week, Obama named Timothy Geithner, head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, as Secretary of the Treasury, and Prof. Christina Romer of the University of California at Berkeley to chair the Council of Economic Advisers.

Beyond these traditional top offices, Obama simultaneously announced former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and adviser Melody Barnes will head the National Economic Council and Domestic Policy Council respectively, while Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker will chair a new White House group to help stabilize financial markets. Peter Orszag of the Congressional Budget Office will direct the Office of Management and Budget, a very powerful but usually low profile agency.

To become Secretary of State, Sen. Clinton and also former President Bill Clinton have accepted restrictions. Ultimately, she must defer to the White House on policy. He has agreed to list contributors to his foundation and also have his public speaking schedule approved by the White House.

U.N. connection

Susan Rice, a National Security Council and State Department official in the Clinton administration, has been a dedicated, articulate advocate of greater concern for the Third World, in particular regarding genocide. Her prominence implies high standing for the United Nations in the new administration.

While Gates and Jones have had nonpartisan careers, respectively in the CIA and U.S. military, each is identified with Republican administrations. Gates was Director of Central Intelligence under Pres. George H.W. Bush. Jones was supreme NATO commander in Europe during the current Bush administration and is a friend of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

Priority emphasis over the past week has been on banking and finance, not defense or foreign policy more generally. Announcing the economic team first, in the context of three succeeding news conferences in as many days, underscores the significance for both the incoming administration and the public at large.

Challenging role

With strong personalities in major foreign policy jobs, the coordinating role of National Security Adviser may prove particularly challenging. In the past, military officers have excelled in this post, including Gen. Brent Scowcroft in both the Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush administrations, and Gen. Colin Powell in Ronald Reagan’s administration.

The relatively large number of top economic officials may also challenge effective coordination. President Harry Truman, who established the Council of Economic Advisers, quipped he wanted a “one-armed economist” because of the propensity to offer “on the one hand, on the other hand” types of advice.

X Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College in Wisconsin. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.