Hagel, Obama, and the lame-duck technocrats

As Obama hunts for a new secretary of Defense, he'd be wise to tap a technocrat who makes a difficult target, even in a hostile environment

Obama Hagel
(Image credit: (Alex Wong/Getty Images))

The Chuck Hagel era at Defense came to an unsurprising and ignominious end on Monday. An early leak to The New York Times of Hagel's resignation unleashed a stream of anonymous sniping at Hagel from the White House, claiming that he "wasn't up to the job," and that Hagel lacked the skill set to deal with threats from abroad. In other circumstances, that would serve as an indictment of the man who hired him in the first place. After all, what purpose does a secretary of Defense serve other than to deal with threats from abroad?

Perhaps that was the reason for the strange kabuki theater that took place at the White House later Monday morning. Even while administration officials swatted at Hagel from behind the screen of anonymity — and Hagel defenders fired back from similarly safe positions — the two men gave each other valedictions that might have been better suited for post-administration reunions. "Chuck has been an exemplary Defense secretary," Obama declared, while his aides said the exact opposite to the press. The final theatrical flourish was an awkward presidential embrace that appears to have become de rigueur after the departure of Jay Carney.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Edward Morrissey

Edward Morrissey has been writing about politics since 2003 in his blog, Captain's Quarters, and now writes for HotAir.com. His columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Post, The New York Sun, the Washington Times, and other newspapers. Morrissey has a daily Internet talk show on politics and culture at Hot Air. Since 2004, Morrissey has had a weekend talk radio show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and often fills in as a guest on Salem Radio Network's nationally-syndicated shows. He lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with his wife, son and daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters. Morrissey's new book, GOING RED, will be published by Crown Forum on April 5, 2016.