Whatever the merits of his choices, Clinton’s efforts to create a government that looks like “the rest of America” mostly looked silly. Gone were the order and discipline that had marked his presidential campaign, replaced by old-fashioned special-interest politics-precisely the Democratic curse Clinton has tried to avoid. Need a Latino? How about New Mexico Congressman Bill Richardson (who has Hispanic blood) for Interior? But wait, the environmentalists want former Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt. Solution: pick Babbitt for Interior and shove aside old-time Chicago pol Billy Daley-who was expected to be secretary of transportation-in favor of former Denver mayor Federico Pena. And with the State Department and the Pentagon delivered into the hands of two white establishmentarians, don’t even think about giving Justice-the last of the Big Three appointments–to a man.
Instead, the job of attorney general went to Zoe Baird, the general counsel of Aetna Life and Casualty in Hartford, Conn. That must have come as a shock to Brooksley Born, a litigator, legal activist and feminist FOH (Friend of Hillary) who seemed to have had a lock on Justice. At the last, Clinton chose a woman with no obvious ideological bias; what Baird does bring to the task is a brilliant legal mind and a gift for efficient management. The combination should serve her and her new fiefdom well: under the Bush and Reagan administrations Justice has been riven by partisanship, infighting, scandal and poor administration.
Last week’s foreign-policy appointments also revealed a premium on pragmatism. To no one’s surprise, Clinton named Warren Christopher-codirector of his transition team and head of last summer’s veepstakes-as secretary of state. Christopher is a throwback to a species that once dominated foreign-policy-making: the blue-chip lawyer. Like the old Wall Streeters who came to Washington after World War II, Christopher is mindful of economic issues, particularly the need to keep open global markets (the East Coast Foreign Policy Establishment was Eurocentric; as a West Coaster, he may look more to Asia). And he is nonideological. He has no overarching world view, preferring to proceed case by case. Some worry that the cautious Los Angeles lawyer will always choose, to paraphrase Churchill, jaw-jaw over war-war. “How will Christopher approach armed intervention?” asks former Carter adviser David Aaron. “Like making love to a porcupine-very carefully.”
Clinton’s other key appointment-Rep. Les Aspin as secretary of defense-represents a different generational divide. Aspin came into government in the mid-1960s, as one of Robert McNamara’s “whiz kids” the systems analysts who were going to bring reason and order to the chaotic interservice rivalries of the Pentagon. Vietnam overwhelmed the reformers and caused Aspin to run for Congress, at the age of 32, as a dove. Aspin, who was thoughtful and creative as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, still wants to reform the Pentagon. Indeed, he relishes the idea of playing architect to a whole new world order. Settling differences between him and Christopher will fall to national-security-adviser nominee Anthony Lake, a former Kissinger aide who broke with his mentor over the invasion of Cambodia; Lake, too, has a reputation as a pragmatist.
When all the pieces of the puzzle were in place, the middle-of-the-roaders dominated economic and defense policy, while the liberals headed up the so-called soft stuff. These divisions follow well-established fault lines within the Democratic Party. Philosophical warfare may well break out between partisans of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council (to be represented in the White House by domestic-policy chief Bruce Reed) and traditional liberals like Donna Shalala, Clinton’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Instead of one all-encompassing vision, there will be two, roughly embodied by Bill (new Democrat) and Hillary (old Democrat). Having invited-indeed ensured-debate with his diverse appointments, it will be up to Clinton to referee the squabbles. If he succeeds and even, in the process, brings about a fruitful exchange of ideas, his painstaking cabinet-selection process may end up looking downright presidential-and not like ethnic pandering.
