Obama assembles a new ‘team of rivals’

last updated 8 January 2015

What happened

President-elect Barack Obama moved swiftly to assemble his administration with veteran Democratic heavyweights this week, asking former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton to serve as secretary of state. Clinton was said to be “torn” over whether to give up the independence of the Senate for a subordinate role in the Obama administration. But that appeared to be a negotiating position, with Clinton seeking clarification on how much influence she would have in shaping foreign policy. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, quickly agreed this week to give up all foreign sources of income and to divulge to the new administration previous employers and donors who might pose a conflict of interest.

Obama was reported to be close to naming veteran Washington lawyer Eric Holder as his choice for attorney general. Holder, a deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, is among several Clinton administration officials whom Obama has brought into his team. “I’ve been spending a lot of time reading Lincoln,” said Obama in a 60 Minutes interview, adding that Lincoln’s strategy of appointing political enemies to serve in his Cabinet—“a team of rivals”—was “very wise.”

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What the editorials said

Sen. Clinton is “well qualified” to serve as secretary of state, said The Washington Post, and proved while campaigning for Obama “an ability to function as part of a team.” But if she takes the job, Obama will inevitably get Bill Clinton, too, and that’s a serious concern. The former president has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for his charitable foundation and for his presidential library from foreign sources such as Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia. That would greatly complicate Sen. Clinton’s work as secretary. Does Obama really need such “headaches”?

It’s a risk worth taking, said the Concord, N.H. Monitor. Sen. Clinton “has the love and admiration of people the world over,” and can be relied on to get tough with America’s adversaries when necessary. To make it all work, though, Bill Clinton would not only have to cease and desist working with and for foreign governments—he would somehow have to find the “discipline” to keep his mouth shut so as to not contradict White House policy.

What the columnists said

Not everyone is thrilled that Obama is packing his administration with Clintonites, said John Heilmann in New York. Traditional liberals are already griping that his appointments signal that the Obama administration will hew to the center, like Clinton’s. They’re also upset that Obama is seriously considering Larry Summers as Treasury secretary. When he was president of Harvard, Summers infuriated feminists by wondering aloud if women were less likely to excel in math and science. But angering the Left is the smart political move right now for Obama, who never had his “Sister Souljah moment.”

As a candidate, our next president earned the nickname “No Drama Obama,” said Noam Scheiber in The New Republic. But in trying to capture the spirit of Lincoln’s “team of rivals,” he’s showing he’s not afraid of “good drama.’’ Good drama means policy discussions are genuine debates, complete with vigorous dissent, so that a confident leader can be sure he’s considered every option. What worked for Lincoln could work again for Obama.

Sorry to explode a myth, said Matthew Pinsker in the Los Angeles Times, but Lincoln’s “team of rivals” was a disaster. Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase never got over his distaste for Lincoln and repeatedly undermined him. Attorney General Edward Bates quit in disgust over the constant political backbiting. “We are now on the brink of destruction,” Lincoln confided to a friend in 1862, as wide fissures opened in his Cabinet. Lincoln’s model “should stand more as a cautionary tale than as a leadership manual.”

What next?

Obama this week said he hoped to have at least one Republican in his Cabinet. To that end, the Financial Times reported, he has approached current Defense Secretary Robert Gates about staying on the job. That “would be wise,” said Michael Goodwin in the New York Daily News. Obama ran on a platform of change, but when it comes to fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, continuity is equally important.