Right now, Obama is in the process of selecting his cabinet and it seems like he is putting together a good team. With possible appointments like Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, and Robert Gates, it looks like Obama will actually empower all the members of his cabinet and encourages a healthy exchange of ideas. This will be an important change from Bush’s style of governing.
For Bush, too many of his cabinet members have been on the outside looking in. In 2000, Bush named several big name moderates to his cabinet like Christine Todd Whitman and Colin Powell, but it quickly became clear that they had little influence with the president. On the other hand, some cabinet members like Rumsfeld, with the president’s blessing, were given free reign. Others in the cabinet assumed roles of glorified paper pushers, administering their agencies, but making few waves in formulating policy. Quick…can anyone name Bush’s EPA administrator? How about the commerce secretary?
When Bush passed his prescription drug benefit in 2003, Karl Rove probably had a bigger influence on the legislation than Tommy Thompson, the HHS secretary at the time. In the current economic crisis, Paulson has played a major role as treasury secratary, but you hear almost nothing about the Commerce Secratary, Carlos Gutierrez. And Stephen Johnson, despite his post at the EPA, is hardly a leading voice on the environment.
Far from having a “team of rivals”, Bush has governed with a team of haves and have-nots. Paulson, Rumsfeld, and Albert Gonzalez have had the president’s ear and have been able to impact policy, while Gutierrez, Johnson, Powell, Whitman, et. al. have been expected to keep their heads down and not rock the boat.
As Obama goes forward assembling his cabinet, he should learn from Bush’s mistakes. With all the problems that the country currently faces, Obama needs to fill his cabinet with the best and the brightest, not those willing to serve for years in near anonymity.
sneaky
