Bush adds a symbol, a surprise to Cabinet

By Mike Allen and John Mintz
The Washington Post

Bernard Kerik brings 9/11 symbolism to Cabinet.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

WASHINGTON — President Bush yesterday nominated Bernard Kerik, the New York police commissioner during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to take over the Department of Homeland Security from Tom Ridge, administration officials said.

Bush also surprised Republicans by naming Nebraska Gov. Michael Johanns, 54, a dairy farmer's son who was the party's leading candidate in an upcoming Senate race, as secretary of agriculture.

If confirmed by the Senate, he will succeed Ann Veneman, an original Cabinet member who said two years ago that she is fighting breast cancer.

	John Danforth quits after 5 months on the job

In a third change, U.N. Ambassador John Danforth, 68, submitted his resignation after five months on the job.

White House officials described Kerik, who campaigned aggressively for Bush's re-election, as a proven crisis manager who can straighten out the lines of authority in the young department and work to prevent a catastrophic attack or cope with its aftermath. Other Republicans said Kerik would provide a telegenic presence, and one presidential adviser noted Kerik "brings 9/11 symbolism into the Cabinet."

He will appear with Bush at the White House today, a senior administration official said. Some Bush officials said they were concerned about Kerik's lack of Washington experience.

Bush chose Kerik, 49, after the commissioner's former boss, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, "made an impassioned personal plea to the president to give Kerik the job," one administration official said. White House officials said that several people recommended Kerik and that he was chosen on merit.

Kerik inherits challenges on nearly every one of the Homeland Security Department's fronts. The department, a collection of 22 pre-existing agencies and offices, is under criticism for what some say is a failure to address many security gaps, such as protecting U.S. ports and chemical plants, securing the borders with Mexico and Canada, and helping first responders prepare for attacks.

Several panels of experts have concluded the department is severely underfinanced and understaffed. In particular, Homeland Security has almost no high-level staff members who are assigned to develop strategies about key policy problems.

At the New York Police Department, Kerik is credited with improving relations with the city's minority communities after years of friction. He also was in charge during a period of declining crime rates, although some experts say that was due less to Kerik's policies than to demographic factors.

Kerik resigned as New York police commissioner two months after the Sept. 11 attacks, citing a desire to spend time with his family. He later took the job of directing training of Iraqi law-enforcement officials, an effort that has met with mixed success. Many Iraqi police trainees have fled at the first sign of danger, but Kerik's defenders say he hardly can be blamed.

A high-ranking executive in private industry expressed shock at the selection and said Kerik is not an accomplished manager. "Management just simply isn't his strong suit," the executive said.

Some New York elected officials praised the selection. "Coming from New York, Bernie Kerik knows the great needs and challenges this country faces in homeland security," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement.

A childhood troublemaker who dropped out of school, Kerik found his path after serving in the Army. He got his first taste of anti-terrorism work as a private security worker in Saudi Arabia.

Kerik started with NYPD in 1986 as a beat cop in Times Square and was one of Giuliani's bodyguards during the 1993 campaign. Kerik wrote a best-selling autobiography, "The Lost Son: A Life in the Pursuit of Justice," covering the mystery of his mother, who abandoned her young son.

	Gov. Mike Johanns is a dairy farmer's son.

Administration officials had said Kerik was on Bush's short list to replace Ridge, but the president's choice for agriculture secretary was a surprise. Johanns was the Republican front-runner to take on Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a freshman who is up for re-election in 2006 and is considered vulnerable by the GOP.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., had energetically promoted Johanns for Senate. Nebraska's lieutenant governor, Republican Dave Heineman, is to serve the remaining two years of Johanns' term.

Appearing with the nominee in the White House Roosevelt Room, Bush said he plans to continue policies that are "pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-farmer" and keep working to open foreign markets to U.S. agricultural products.

Johanns said his agricultural background has done much "to define who I am as a person." He said one of his campaign messages was that "after growing up on a dairy farm ... everything in life seemed easy after that."

The selection of Johanns led to speculation in Nebraska and Washington that the nomination might be designed as an incentive for Nelson to switch to the GOP. Nelson's office said he has had no such conversations with the White House, and Republicans noted that he has more leverage with the White House as a Democrat who can be persuaded to cross the aisle on certain votes.

Johanns took office as Nebraska governor in January 1999 and was re-elected in 2002, becoming the first GOP governor to win a second term in the state since 1956. He began his political career as a Democrat but switched parties in 1988. He was elected Lincoln mayor three years later and was re-elected in 1995.

Johanns has come under criticism from civil-liberties groups for official actions that they said promoted conservative Christian beliefs. He signed a May 1999 proclamation declaring a March for Jesus Day, and he later endorsed a Back to the Bible Day in honor of a fundamentalist Christian group in Nebraska.

There was no immediate word on a U.N. replacement for Danforth. A spokesman for the former Missouri senator said he wanted to spend more time with his wife, Sally, and retire to his native St. Louis.

Danforth, who had been mentioned as a possible secretary of state, never developed a solid relationship with Bush, a senior administration official told Knight Ridder Newspapers, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Washington Post reporters William Branigin and Jim VandeHei contributed to this report; background information on Kerik was provided by Knight Ridder Newspapers.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More nation & world headlines...