Source: TOI
How far the cabinet appointments in the United States reflect ideological considerations or how merely subjective and whimsical they could be on the part of the president remains a matter of debate. Perhaps, the president largely chooses the men (or women) he is comfortable with as cabinet colleagues. In the dog-eating-dog kind of highly competitive and lethal atmosphere in Washington’s corridors of raw power, of course, the need also arises to “balance” personalities.
The appointment of Susan Rice as national security advisor and of Samantha Power as the envoy to the United Nations becomes extremely intriguing because it doesn’t fit into a straitjacket. True, Rice was a close confidante of Obama and Power was not far behind either and the president naturally likes to “reward” them. This could be one thing.
But Obama would know he is letting loose two cats among pigeons — secretaries of state and defence, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. Rice and Power by their record are the very antithesis of Kerry and Hagel. They are two noisy exponents of the doctrine of interventionism and had a whale of a time with Hillary Clinton around.
Categories: Americas