Leaders and the led

Arthur Herman on "Why Tillerson Had to Go":
Trump thought he was getting a lion in Tillerson. Instead, he was getting a Saint Bernard. Like the breed, Tillerson may be large and imposing at first glance; but he is no fighter, least of all against the bureaucratic mentality that permeates the U.S. State Department.
Here we can stipulate a third point. Virtually every secretary of state since Cordell Hull has suffered one of two fates. Either he or she becomes the president’s representative to the bureaucracy — and when necessary the ruthless enforcer of the chief executive’s will in Foggy Bottom — or he or she becomes the bureaucracy’s representative to the president, and assumes the role of bringing the State Department’s views to the chief executive’s attention — even at times serving as an advocate of those views.

6 comments:

Grim said...

Quite so. Pompeo may be better.

raven said...

Some guy named Harold Bloodaxe would get my approval. Do we have any?

Grim said...

I'd be up for changing my last name to "Bloodaxe."

E Hines said...

Marie Harf (remember her?) worried on Fox News this morning that Trump was surrounding himself with people who were hawkish in foreign affairs. I, on the other hand, certainly hope so.

On a later segment, others worried that firing McCabe this week rather than allowing him to retire over the weekend would smack of punitive action. Again, I certainly hope so, even if such a firing at this late date would be problematic.

Eric Hines

GraniteDad said...

I'm not persuaded by this article. Tillerson's failure to me seems more to be that he focused on trying to cut costs, trim staff, etc, and what Trump wanted was... something else. Tillerson was focused on transforming the State Department as an organization and that's not what Trump wanted. Many State Dept folks complained about Tillerson to the press because of the staffing cuts/hiring gaps, so this isn't a case of someone who "went native" and undercut Trump.

I'll be honest though, I've got no idea what Trump wants in a Sec of State. Best of luck to Pompeo.

douglas said...

Pompeo will do well, I think. He's a very intelligent man (First in Class at West Point, Mechanical Engineering; J.D., Harvard), but one who is not an 'intellectual'. He's had real world experience at war (Gulf War- Artillery Officer) and in business (Aerospace Parts Manufacture). He knows how to communicate to and listen to Trump. This may be his strongest asset in this position. He's well spoken, but also plain-spoken.

I also like the message the appointment sends right before meeting with the Norks.

Honestly, my biggest concern with him is that I haven't yet found something where I disagree with him. Good problem to have, I suppose.