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DS Chuck Hagel Stepping Down.Who is in line to take over? (1 Viewer)

tom22406

Footballguy
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/us/hagel-said-to-be-stepping-down-as-defense-chief-under-pressure.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure, the first cabinet-level casualty of the collapse of President Obama’s Democratic majority in the Senate and the struggles of his national security team amid an onslaught of global crises.

The president, who is expected to announce Mr. Hagel’s resignation in a Rose Garden appearance on Monday, made the decision to ask his defense secretary — the sole Republican on his national security team — to step down last Friday after a series of meetings over the past two weeks, senior administration officials said.

The officials described Mr. Obama’s decision to remove Mr. Hagel, 68, as a recognition that the threat from the Islamic State would require a different kind of skills than those that Mr. Hagel was brought on to employ. A Republican with military experience who was skeptical about the Iraq war, Mr. Hagel came in to manage the Afghanistan combat withdrawal and the shrinking Pentagon budget in the era of budget sequestration.

But now “the next couple of years will demand a different kind of focus,” one administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He insisted that Mr. Hagel was not fired, saying that the defense secretary initiated discussions about his future two weeks ago with the president, and that the two men mutually agreed that it was time for him to leave.

But Mr. Hagel’s aides had maintained in recent weeks that he expected to serve the full four years as defense secretary. His removal appears to be an effort by the White House to show that it is sensitive to critics who have pointed to stumbles in the government’s early response to several national security issues, including the Ebola crisis and the threat posed by the Islamic State.

Even before the announcement of Mr. Hagel’s removal, Obama officials were speculating on his possible replacement. At the top of the list are Michèle Flournoy, the former under secretary of defense; Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and a former officer with the Army’s 82nd Airborne; and Ashton B. Carter, a former deputy secretary of defense.

A respected former senator who struck a friendship with Mr. Obama when they were both critics of the Iraq war from positions on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Hagel has nonetheless had trouble penetrating the tight team of former campaign aides and advisers who form Mr. Obama’s closely knit set of loyalists. Senior administration officials have characterized him as quiet during cabinet meetings; Mr. Hagel’s defenders said that he waited until he was alone with the president before sharing his views, the better to avoid leaks.

Whatever the case, Mr. Hagel struggled to fit in with Mr. Obama’s close circle and was viewed as never gaining traction in the administration after a bruising confirmation fight among his old Senate colleagues, during which he was criticized for seeming tentative in his responses to sharp questions.

He never really shed that pall after arriving at the Pentagon, and in the past months he has largely ceded the stage to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who officials said initially won the confidence of Mr. Obama with his recommendation of military action against the Islamic State.

In Mr. Hagel’s less than two years on the job, his detractors said he struggled to inspire confidence at the Pentagon in the manner of his predecessors, especially Robert M. Gates. But several of Mr. Obama’s top advisers over the past few months have also acknowledged privately that the president did not want another high-profile defense secretary in the manner of Mr. Gates, who went on to write a memoir of his years with Mr. Obama in which he sharply criticized the president. Mr. Hagel, they said, in many ways was exactly the kind of defense secretary whom the president, after battling the military during his first term, wanted.

Mr. Hagel, for his part, spent his time on the job largely carrying out Mr. Obama’s stated wishes on matters like bringing back American troops from Afghanistan and trimming the Pentagon budget, with little pushback. He did manage to inspire loyalty among enlisted soldiers and often seemed at his most confident when talking to troops or sharing wartime experiences as a Vietnam veteran.

But Mr. Hagel has often had problems articulating his thoughts — or administration policy — in an effective manner, and has sometimes left reporters struggling to describe what he has said in news conferences. In his side-by-side appearances with both General Dempsey and Secretary of State John Kerry, Mr. Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran and the first former enlisted combat soldier to be defense secretary, has often been upstaged.

He raised the ire of the White House in August as the administration was ramping up its strategy to fight the Islamic State, directly contradicting the president, who months before had likened the Sunni militant group to a junior varsity basketball squad. Mr. Hagel, facing reporters in his now-familiar role next to General Dempsey, called the Islamic State an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” adding, “This is beyond anything that we’ve seen.” White House officials later said they viewed those comments as unhelpful, although the administration still appears to be struggling to define just how large is the threat posed by the Islamic State.
 
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But Mr. Hagel has often had problems articulating his thoughts — or administration policy — in an effective manner, and has sometimes left reporters struggling to describe what he has said in news conferences. In his side-by-side appearances with both General Dempsey and Secretary of State John Kerry, Mr. Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran and the first former enlisted combat soldier to be defense secretary, has often been upstaged.
this paragraph says most of the story.

I'd sure like to know what our policy and goals are, in a coherent manner.

 
I found this part interesting

The officials described Mr. Obama’s decision to remove Mr. Hagel, 68, as a recognition that the threat from the Islamic State would require a different kind of skills than those that Mr. Hagel was brought on to employ. A Republican with military experience who was skeptical about the Iraq war, Mr. Hagel came in to manage the Afghanistan combat withdrawal and the shrinking Pentagon budget in the era of budget sequestration.
Anybody care to guess what exactly they have in mind here?

 
I found this part interesting

The officials described Mr. Obama’s decision to remove Mr. Hagel, 68, as a recognition that the threat from the Islamic State would require a different kind of skills than those that Mr. Hagel was brought on to employ. A Republican with military experience who was skeptical about the Iraq war, Mr. Hagel came in to manage the Afghanistan combat withdrawal and the shrinking Pentagon budget in the era of budget sequestration.
Anybody care to guess what exactly they have in mind here?
Hawk.

 
James Webb would be a good candidate and could probably be confirmed relatively easily. Former Senator and former SecNav and a Vietnam vet. However Hillary would hate it, because he's already talking about running against her.

 
James Webb would be a good candidate and could probably be confirmed relatively easily. Former Senator and former SecNav and a Vietnam vet. However Hillary would hate it, because he's already talking about running against her.
If he accepted it would take him out of play . The campaign starts now . First debates will be late spring.
 
James Webb would be a good candidate and could probably be confirmed relatively easily. Former Senator and former SecNav and a Vietnam vet. However Hillary would hate it, because he's already talking about running against her.
If he accepted it would take him out of play . The campaign starts now . First debates will be late spring.
wow, I actually agree with Tim about something in politics.

a candidate could not be SECDEF.

He could make a stronger play in 2020 with this experience, but 2016 would be out.

 
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James Webb would be a good candidate and could probably be confirmed relatively easily. Former Senator and former SecNav and a Vietnam vet. However Hillary would hate it, because he's already talking about running against her.
Webb was my first thought too. And I think he knows he doesn't have a chance to win the nomination. Kinda think he was running to get the SecDef job if democrats win the white house again.

 
From everything Ive read, its a three person race:

Sen. Jack Reed,former Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Michele Flournoy.

 
James Webb would be a good candidate and could probably be confirmed relatively easily. Former Senator and former SecNav and a Vietnam vet. However Hillary would hate it, because he's already talking about running against her.
If he accepted it would take him out of play . The campaign starts now . First debates will be late spring.
I have no idea if this is even possible or a likelihood, but if it did happen it would immediate launch Webb into having an equal job administration history on his resume to match Hillary's SOS role. That job is probably the only real bona fides she has for the job of president. Such a move would likely be viewed as an affront to Hillary by Obama in fact.

 
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Seriously, **** Cheney. Not running for anything and knows the job.
I see a Walter Mathau / Jack Lemmon style sitcom script coming out of this.... or maybe a musical, "**** & Barry: Together At Last."

[****] 'He says tomato' / [barry] 'He says tomahto' / [barry] 'He likes intervention' / [****] 'He likes retreat'

[Together] "Tomato! Toe-mah-to! Intervention! Retreat! Oh let's call the whole thing offff!"

 
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Seriously, **** Cheney. Not running for anything and knows the job.
Good Lord. I like the idea of not having a bunch of people with the exact same world view under the President ala Lincoln's team of rivals. But Cheney would be advocating to bomb half of the world in his first month on the job.

 
James Webb would be a good candidate and could probably be confirmed relatively easily. Former Senator and former SecNav and a Vietnam vet. However Hillary would hate it, because he's already talking about running against her.
If he accepted it would take him out of play . The campaign starts now . First debates will be late spring.
I have no idea if this is even possible or a likelihood, but if it did happen it would immediate launch Webb into having an equal job administration history on his resume to match Hillary's SOS role. That job is probably the only real bona fides she has for the job of president. Such a move would likely be viewed as an affront to Hillary by Obama in fact.
She was a United States Senator for EIGHT YEARS

 
We are at the point where cabinet members will be people like Carter or Flournoy.

 
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Aerial Assault said:
SaintsInDome2006 said:
timschochet said:
DCThunder said:
James Webb would be a good candidate and could probably be confirmed relatively easily. Former Senator and former SecNav and a Vietnam vet. However Hillary would hate it, because he's already talking about running against her.
If he accepted it would take him out of play . The campaign starts now . First debates will be late spring.
I have no idea if this is even possible or a likelihood, but if it did happen it would immediate launch Webb into having an equal job administration history on his resume to match Hillary's SOS role. That job is probably the only real bona fides she has for the job of president. Such a move would likely be viewed as an affront to Hillary by Obama in fact.
She was a United States Senator for EIGHT YEARS
And Jim Webb was a Senator for 6 years and he was Secretary of the Navy too. My point is that having been SOS lends Hillary gravitas for having served in a cabinet level position that any potential Dem rival (and maybe any GOP one also) could not match. (No not Biden as VP, the perception that a VP doesn't really do much is one reason that the Clintons probably turned that job down). But if a Webb or someone on that order was appointed SOD that would be very different. I think Webb has already said he's running for prez so this would not happen anyway.

I like Webb actually and frankly if he gets into a 1-on-1 with Hillary over Iraq he will destroy her, not that it will matter much as the Party and everyone seems to have their mind made up that Hillary will be the nominee and the president as well.

 
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Like I have said before, this administration is very micromanaging. Gates wouldn't let them manage him like that and Panetta couldn't handle it. Hagel knew exactly what he was getting into though, so I'm sure he is less surprised than the rest of us.

 
I'm going to guess some version of a "yes-man"...or better yet a "yes-woman".
Hagel was pointing out problems with ISIS when the administration still saw them as the JV team. It doesn't bode well that being right can't break a Secretary of Defense into the inner-circle. That circle must be pretty damn tight.

 
Like I have said before, this administration is very micromanaging. Gates wouldn't let them manage him like that and Panetta couldn't handle it. Hagel knew exactly what he was getting into though, so I'm sure he is less surprised than the rest of us.
You are in the "know" about these things DD. What is the water cooler talk about the next guy/girl to take over?

 
Like I have said before, this administration is very micromanaging. Gates wouldn't let them manage him like that and Panetta couldn't handle it. Hagel knew exactly what he was getting into though, so I'm sure he is less surprised than the rest of us.
You are in the "know" about these things DD. What is the water cooler talk about the next guy/girl to take over?
I don't work over there anymore, but am meeting up with some of those folks tomorrow. Let me see what the talk is.

 

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