December 18, 1968

Cabinet Choices Interesting, Assistants More Significant

President Elect Richard Nixon's new cabinet is not as good as some conservatives wished, but not as bad as some liberals feared.

Taken as a whole, the cabinet is as good as most and better than some — which is to say it is middle-of-the-road.  There are no conspicuous hawks or doves, no pump primers or gold hoarders, no bleeding hearts or segregationists.

We have moved into an era of unusually fluid events.  Now is the time for everyone to hang loose - and Nixon's cabinet seems to meet that requirement.

To be sure, there are as yet no strong personalities like former cabinet members Dean Acheson, Robert McNamara, Willard Wertz or Robert Kennedy; nor anyone of the stature of Dean Rusk, Nicholas Katzenbach or Arthur Goldberg.  But the names of none of these were household words at the time they were first appointed to duty.

It is safe to say that within a few months after taking office Nixon's staff will be as well known as that of any other president.

There was considerable caterwauling by the new left that none of the glamour liberals made Nixon's team.  Nelson Rockefeller was only briefly considered, if at all.  Hubert Humphrey turned down the ambassadorship to the United Nations, and Republican Senator Edward Brooke refused to become the only Negro in the new cabinet.

Democratic Senator Henry Jackson toyed with Nixon's offer to be the secretary of defense but finally declined when the sour-grapers of his own party convinced him he would be used by the president as a scapegoat.

One can imagine that Nixon accepted these rebuffs with a secret sigh of relief.  Having made a determined effort to bring divergent elements into his cabinet he could then proceed to name the men in whom he had confidence and would do his kind of job.

One wonders why he even bothered.  What other president felt obligated to tip his hat to minorities and to the other party in his cabinet?

This is not to say that there shouldn't be room in our government for prominent members of the opposite party.  As a matter of fact we tend to waste a great deal of talent in this country when parties change power.

I feel the outgoing president should be given an honorary seat in the Senate and accorded debating privileges — though not a vote.  Defeated presidential candidates should be prevailed upon to serve as UN ambassador.

Though party philosophies differ — and should be changed ever so often — the men who embody these principles at the top level are loyal, dedicated and sincere.

Nixon's most popular appointment so far seems to be that of William P.  Rogers as secretary of state.  Those commentators who profess to know the new political celebrities well give Rogers four bells.  Even that unregenerate Nixon-baiter, Columnist Drew Pearson, grudgingly admits that the president lucked out on this appointment.

There seems to be general approval of Michigan Governor George Romney as secretary of housing and urban development.  Romney's credentials as a Republican liberal are A-1 with most observers.  They will be put to the acid test in his new job — a bucket of fish hooks.  HUD at this stage of the game appears to be the kind of challenge you can't win.

The cabinet is over rated, in my opinion, as an influence of events and policies.  Cabinet officers are administrators of vast bureaucracies and eventually become prisoners of the system.  Hard working technicians are needed here.

Of great import are the special assistants that surround the president and have privy to his ear.  These are the real powers behind the throne.

Thus appointments at this level are significant.  And who has Nixon chosen so far?  Some, genuine liberals of great intellectual integrity — a little fuzzy in some of their assumptions as we shall disclose in future columns — but honest seekers of truth.

Henry Kissinger has taken a leave of absence from Cambridge to take the post of special assistant for national security.  He is well known for his position that we must be flexible in our Vietnam policies.

Daniel P.  Moynihan becomes special assistant for urban affairs.  He is also a Cambridge professor who has been both the delight and despair of Americans For Democratic Action.  He believes the cities are our most important problem, but he also believes that heavy federal spending won't help a great deal.

Lee Dubridge will advise Nixon on scientific matters and constitute a third link with the academic world.  He is a world renowned scientist versed in matters astral and nuclear.

I find Nixon's cabinet appointments satisfactory and his choices of assistants exciting.  If he continues the trend, we can expect to see still more fresh minds brought into his personal staff.  Certainly a place will be made for an activist Negro and a bright young Democrat.

It is likely that Nixon will address himself to some elements of the citizenry not heretofore represented in anybody's cabinet.

Nixon has had a lot of experience in government and a lot of time to think about procedures of leading.  He is a meticulous planner and a tireless worker.

His choices of men to help him fulfill the world's toughest job are above average.  Time and events will shape these men more than they will shape history.  But the odds appear to me in favor of men.

Author: Lindsey Williams