The Bush Merry-Go-Round
September 8, 2001
Editorial
From The New York Times
...." Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, is ascendant."
..................................**********************...............................................
" Ms. Rice, for her part, has clearly exercised more influence, and done so
more visibly, than predicted. She has benefited from her role as Mr. Bush's
foreign policy guide during the presidential campaign and her FREQUENT ACCESS
to the president at the White House, Camp David and Mr. Bush's Texas
ranch. "
W ashington is aflutter with speculation
about the rising and falling fortunes
of President Bush's quartet of top national
security aides. According to the latest buzz,
Vice President Dick Cheney is losing influence, Secretary of State Colin
Powell is a disappointment, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has
cratered at the Pentagon and Condoleezza Rice, the national security
adviser, is ascendant.
A moment like this comes early in the life of every new administration as the
innermost circle of policy makers sort out their relationships and maneuver to
extend their influence. The public handicapping can be misleading, but it
usually captures some truths about the leading actors and can, fairly or
unfairly, define them for an entire presidency.
In the case of the Bush team, speculation aside, these facts seem self-evident:
Secretary Powell has not moved into the commanding leadership position on
foreign policy that most people expected, Mr. Rumsfeld has struggled to
advance his reform agenda for the military services, Mr. Cheney has been
less visible in recent weeks and Ms. Rice has emerged as a formidable
power broker.
This is all the more piquant because it defies initial expectations in
Washington, a city that loves to create and then shatter its own myths. Mr.
Cheney, a former White House chief of staff and defense secretary, was
forecast to be the equivalent of a prime minister. Secretary Powell, once
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an architect of the victory in the
Persian Gulf war, was expected to be the foreign policy vicar of the Bush
administration.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who is making his second tour at the Pentagon, was
considered one of Washington's most cunning operators. He even
outmaneuvered Henry Kissinger — the master of bureaucratic jujitsu — on
at least one occasion when the two men served in high posts in the Ford
administration. Few people gave Ms. Rice, with her limited experience as a
White House staff aide on Soviet affairs, much chance of competing with
these titans.
With such grandiose predictions in place, it has not taken much change to
create the impression of a tectonic shift in the balance of power. Mr.
Cheney's heart problems, and his ardent embrace of the coal, oil and gas
industries, seem to have hobbled him. Mr. Rumsfeld has done a lousy job of
selling his military reform plans to the generals and admirals, not to mention
to Congress.
Their image problems look minor compared with General Powell's. As
secretary of state, he has not acted like the prime shaper of Washington's
foreign policy or even as its leading diplomat on some important fronts,
including relations with Moscow. That led Time magazine to picture him on
its cover this week with the humiliating headline "Where Have You Gone,
Colin Powell?"
Ms. Rice, for her part, has clearly exercised more influence, and done so
more visibly, than predicted. She has benefited from her role as Mr. Bush's
foreign policy guide during the presidential campaign and her frequent access
to the president at the White House, Camp David and Mr. Bush's Texas
ranch. Ms. Rice, a former Stanford professor and provost, also gave Mr.
Bush's foreign policy some of its core themes, including the emphasis on
missile defense. She then went to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir
Putin, a diplomatic mission usually reserved for the secretary of state.
nytimes.com
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company |
