A Review of the Obama Cabinet to Date

by Kakofonous

Here's an annotated list of the Obama administration's announced (and highly speculated) Cabinet picks to date. "Obama's team so far" is an article worth checking out from the BBC. It covers all the advisers currently announced or expected, not specifically the Cabinet posts.

Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton
While she may seem like the ideal figure to please unite both the policymakers near to the left and to the center of the Party, that would have been a pick more suited to Vice President than to Secretary of State. A Secretary should possess diplomatic expertise and extensive foreign policy experience, two qualities that Clinton, even in her former capacity as Bill Clinton's First Lady, is rather thin on. A candidate I would much rather have seen is former adviser to both Clintons Richard Holbrooke, who has shown one of the keenest diplomatic eyes of the Democrats in recent years.

Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates
Though not leaked in any current reports, Gates is favored among political intelligentsia to keep his position as Defense Secretary from the Bush Administration. Keeping the Republican in a key Cabinet post advances Obama's campaign platform of bipartisanship. This move would also put Obama in an advantageous position in the transition from campaign to office; allowing an extremely important Secretary to remain in the Cabinet would help speed up the introduction and integration of new defense policy.

Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy Geithner
The current president of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve, Geithner is also an alum of the Clinton Administration, where he assisted with damage control on the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. A sound choice, Geithner's only real competition was Lawrence Summers, yet another former (Bill) Clintonite who is remembered for his short, infamous tenure as President of Harvard University. Summers, a seasoned economist, has received a top advisory position in the Obama administration. For a piece on the pairing of the two in the new Administration's key role as international negotiator and domestic problem-solver for the current economic crisis, see Noam Scheiber's piece on the website of The New Republic: "Why the Geithner Pick Is Even Better Than You Think".

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tom Daschle
Termed by The Economist as a "shrewd choice" (see "A shrewd choice" from the edition of 21 November 2008), Tom Daschle has, among other things, recently published a book on the subject of health care reform and has had experience in this area (surprise, surprise) in the Clinton administration. He has been an avid supporter of reform since the 1990s.

Attorney General: Eric Holder
Another Clinton veteran, Holder has expressed solidarity with Obama's campaign promise to end internment at Guantánamo Bay, one of the most important legal issues that Obama will face in office. Holder has been a legal adviser to Obama throughout his campaign. An experienced legal mind is just what the new President needs to sift through the many questionable procedures enacted by Bush during his eight years in office; hopefully Holder is the man with the mind we need.

Secretary of Commerce: Bill Richardson
A politician who has worn multiple hats over the course of his career, including Governor of New Mexico and Secretary of Energy, Richardson has demonstrated his competence in many areas of governmental leadership. That being said, I'm not convinced that Secretary of Commerce is the best place to put Richardson. During the course of his Presidential campaign this year, Richardson continually demonstrated his committment to alternative energy resources, and I believe that appointing Richardson as Secretary of Energy for a second time would be a better choice for Obama to make. William M. Daley, a former Secretary in the Clinton Administration who has advised Obama, has a more extensive background in business than Richardson, and seems a worthy alternative.

Secretary of Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano
The current Governor of Arizona and a past Attorney General for that state, Napolitano has experience as a executive officer and legal adviser in a border state, putting her in a good position to assist the President with issues relating to immigration and border control policy.