Robert M. Gates, who worked last year as President George W. Bush’s defense secretary and the superintendent of the United States’ two wars, now has a role with President Obama.

WASHINGTON – Saying, “I made a mistake,” Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire abruptly withdrew as commerce secretary nominee on Thursday and drew a testy reaction from the White House, suddenly coping with the third Cabinet withdrawal of Barack Obama’s young presidency.

Gregg cited “irresolvable conflicts” with Obama’s handling of the economic stimulus and 2010 census in a statement released without warning by his Senate office.

Later, at a news conference in the Capitol, he sounded more contrite.

“The president asked me to do it,” he said of the job offer. “I said, ‘Yes.’ That was my mistake.”

Obama offered a somewhat different account from Gregg.

“It comes as something of a surprise, because the truth, you know, Mr. Gregg approached us with interest and seemed enthusiastic,” Obama said in an interview with the Springfield (Ill.) Journal-Register. “But ultimately, I think, we’re going to just keep on making efforts to build the kind of bipartisan consensus around important issues that I think the American people are looking for.”

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said once it became clear Gregg was not going to support some of Obama’s top economic priorities, it became necessary for Gregg and the administration “to part ways,” Gibbs said. “We regret that he has had a change of heart.”

Gregg said he’d always been a strong fiscal conservative. “It really wasn’t a good pick.” When the Senate voted on the president’s massive stimulus plan earlier this week, Gregg did not vote. The bill passed with all Democratic votes and just three Republican votes.

The unexpected withdrawal marked the latest setback for Obama in his attempt to build a Cabinet. It came as the new president expended political capital in Washington – and around the country – for his economic package.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was confirmed despite revelations that he had not paid some of his taxes on time, and former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle withdrew as nominee as health and human services secretary in a tax controversy.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico was Obama’s first choice as Commerce Secretary. He withdrew several weeks ago following disclosure that a grand jury is investigating allegations of wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts in his state. Richardson has not been implicated personally.

Gregg was one of three Republicans Obama had put in his Cabinet to emphasize his campaign pledge that he would be an agent of bipartisan change.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Obama and Gregg met in the Oval Office on Wednesday and there were no hard feelings.

“It’s better we figured this out now than later,” Emanuel said. “It’s unfortunate. … There’s a disappointment.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Gregg said, “For 30 years, I’ve been my own person in charge of my own views, and I guess I hadn’t really focused on the job of working for somebody else and carrying their views, and so this is basically where it came out.”

Gregg, 61, said he informed the White House “fairly early in the week” about his decision. He said he changed his mind after realizing he wasn’t ready to “trim my sails” to be a part of Obama’s team.

“I just sensed that I was not going to be good at being anything other than myself,” he said.

The New Hampshire senator also said he would probably not run for a new term in 2010.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said he wished Gregg “had thought through the implications of his nomination more thoroughly before accepting this post.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called Gregg a friend and said, “I respect his decision.”

In his statement, Gregg said his withdrawal had nothing to do with the vetting into his past that Cabinet officials routinely undergo.

Gregg’s reference to the stimulus underscored the partisan divide over the centerpiece of Obama’s economic recovery plan. Conservatives in both houses have been relentless critics of the plan, arguing it is filled with wasteful spending and won’t create enough jobs. Gregg has refrained from voting on the bill – and on all other matters – while his nomination was pending.

The Commerce Department has jurisdiction over the Census Bureau, and the administration recently took steps to assert greater control. Republicans have harshly criticized the decision, saying it was an attempt to politicize the once-in-a-decade event.

The outcome of the census has deep political implications, since congressional districts are drawn based on population. Many federal funds are distributed on the basis of population, as well.

Both of those factors mean there is a premium on counting as many residents as possible. Historically, the groups believed to be most undercounted are inner-city minorities, who tend to vote Democratic.

Gregg’s announcement also undid a carefully constructed chain of events.

The New Hampshire senator had agreed to join the Cabinet only if his departure from the Senate did not allow Democrats to take control of his seat.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, in turn, pledged to appointed Bonnie Newman, a former interim president of the University of New Hampshire.

She, in turn, had agreed not to run for a full term in 2010, creating an open seat for Democrats to try and claim.

In a statement, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Gregg “made a principled decision to return and we’re glad to have him.”

Lynch, who spoke to Gregg several hours before the announcement, said he respected Gregg’s decision to withdraw and remain in the Senate. He thanked Newman for her willingness to serve.

A day after Gregg’s nomination had been announced, the AP reported that a former staffer was under criminal investigation for allegedly taking baseball and hockey tickets from a lobbyist in exchange for legislative favors while working for Gregg.

The former staffer, Kevin Koonce, has been identified in court papers only as “Staffer F” in the sprawling corruption probe stemming from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Gregg said at the time that he had been told he was neither a subject nor target of the investigation, and would cooperate fully.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama nominated Republican Sen. Judd Gregg to be Commerce secretary on Tuesday, a bipartisan gesture that the Democratic president stressed was necessary with the economy in a virtual free fall.

“Clearly Judd and I don’t agree on every issue, most notably who should have won the election,” Obama said in the White House’s grand foyer with Gregg and Vice President Joe Biden at his side. “But we do agree on the urgent need to get American businesses and families back on their feet. … We know the only way to solve the great challenges of our time is to put aside stale ideology and petty partisanship and embrace what works.”

Gregg, in turn, praised Obama’s $800 billion-plus proposal to stabilize the economic slide and pull the country out of recession as an “extraordinarily bold, aggressive, effective and comprehensive plan.”

“This is not a time for partisanship,” the New Hampshire senator said. “This is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout. This is a time to govern, and govern well.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Gregg would take over a sprawling Commerce Department tasked not just with job creation, but also with conducting the 2010 Census. The department includes the Patent and Trademark Office, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose duties include weather forecasting and climate research.

Gregg would be the third Republican in Obama’s Cabinet, joining Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The president initially had tapped Bill Richardson for the Commerce job, but the New Mexico governor withdrew his nomination amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

After a monthlong search, Obama settled on the 61-year-old Gregg, a former New Hampshire governor who previously served in the House. Gregg has been in the Senate since 1993 and currently serves as the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.

Gregg said in a conference call with reporters he will remain in the Senate until he is confirmed.
  
Financial records show that in 2007, Gregg was worth between $3.1 million and $10.5 million, not out of line with others in the Senate. He owns stock in blue chip companies such as Verizon, Exxon, drugmaker Bristol Myers, General Electric, Citicorp, Microsoft, Heinz, Capital One and Bank of America. Some of his larger assets include real estate in New Hampshire, Florida, New York and Massachusetts. He also owns stakes in several software makers. And he’s a trustee of the Hugh Gregg Family Foundation, a charitable trust.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, has agreed – in a deal struck with Gregg – to name a Republican to fill the Senate seat.

Democratic officials say Lynch intends to select Bonnie Newman, Gregg’s former chief of staff, and that she intends to step down rather than run in 2010 for a full term. That would create the possibility of a highly competitive race for a seat that long has been in Republican hands.

Choosing a Democrat would have expanded the party’s majority in the Senate, moving it closer to a filibuster-proof majority. Gregg had indicated he wouldn’t leave the Senate if his departure disrupted the balance of power.

The White House’s exact role in the deal that led to Gregg’s nomination is unclear.

In a statement, Lynch said the White House was at least directly aware that a deal had been made: Gregg would only become Commerce secretary if he was replaced by a Republican in the Senate.

Yet before Gregg’s nomination had become official, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the White House has no part in “picking senators in states that need new senators.”

Gregg himself mentioned the deal as he stood with Obama on Tuesday, saying: “I also want to thank the governor of New Hampshire for his courtesy and courage in being willing to make this possible through the agreement that we have relative to my successor in the Senate.”

WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Arne Duncan says the economy won’t improve without the billions of dollars for schools in President Barack Obama’s recovery plan.

Duncan told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the nation needs a better-educated work force to revive the economy. He said it’s the only way to get out of the economic crisis in the long term.

Obama’s economic stimulus bill cleared the House Wednesday. Critics say much of its $140 billion for schools is not a short-term boost but an immense expansion that will be impossible to roll back.

Duncan said the measure will protect kids by saving teachers’ jobs and by building and renovating schools. It also includes money for reforms related to teaching and student tests.

WASHINGTON – The Senate has confirmed New York Fed chief Timothy Geithner to be President Barack Obama’s secretary of the treasury.

The 60-34 vote puts Geithner at the helm of Obama’s plan to rescue the economy from the worst financial crisis in three generations. It also dislodges one of Obama’s most troubled nominations.

Some senators were concerned that Geithner, who would oversee the Internal Revenue Service, did not pay all of taxes until he had been tapped to the president’s Cabinet. Geithner called it an unintentional oversight and settled his $42,702 overdue tax bill.

Obama and others supporting Geithner’s nomination said the nation couldn’t afford to wait for Obama to search for another nominee to run the Treasury Department.

WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton took charge of the State Department on Thursday, proclaiming the start of a new era of robust U.S. diplomacy to tackle the world’s crises and improve America’s standing abroad.

Before a raucous, cheering crowd of about 1,000 people, the nation’s 67th secretary of state pledged to boost the morale and resources of the diplomatic corps and promised them a difficult but exciting road ahead.

“I believe with all of my heart that this is a new era for America,” she said to loud applause in the main lobby of the department’s headquarters, which President Barack Obama will visit later Thursday to underscore his administration’s commitment to diplomacy and announce the appointment of special envoys to the Middle East and South Asia.

“This is going to be a challenging time and it will require 21st Century tools and solutions to meet our problems and seize our opportunities,” Clinton said. “I’m going to be asking a lot of you. I want you to think outside the proverbial box. I want you to give me the best advice you can.”

“I want you to understand there is nothing that I welcome more than a good debate and the kind of dialogue that will make us better,” she said. “We cannot be our best if we don’t demand that from ourselves and each other.”

In her spirited 10-minute pep talk, she spoke of the importance of defense, diplomacy and development – the “three legs to the stool of American foreign policy” – and noted that the State Department is in charge of two of them.

“We are responsible for two of the three legs,” said the former New York senator and first lady. “And we will make clear as we go forward that diplomacy and development are essential tools in achieving the long-term objectives of the United States.”

Clinton’s mandate from Obama is to step up diplomatic efforts and restore the nation’s tattered image overseas. She has vowed to make use of “smart power” to deal with international challenges.

“At the heart of smart power are smart people, and you are those people,” she told the assembled throng. “And you are the ones that we will count on and turn to for the advice and counsel, the expertise and experience to make good on the promises of this new administration.”

Clinton takes over an agency that was often sidelined during George W. Bush’s eight-year presidency, particularly in his first term over the decision to go to war in Iraq. Although former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice restored some of the department’s influence, diplomats still complained of a lack of access to the top, as well as funding.

In introductory remarks, Steve Kashkett, vice president of the union that represents diplomats, noted that Obama and Clinton had both “decried the neglect that the foreign service and the State Department as a whole have suffered in recent years.”

Clinton, meanwhile, sought to reassure frustrated diplomats that they will be heard.

“This is a team, and you are the members of that team,” she said. “We are not any longer going to tolerate the kind of divisiveness that has paralyzed and undermined our ability to get things done for America.”

She predicted her team would experience “a great adventure. We’ll have some ups and some downs. We’ll face some obstacles along the way. But be of good cheer and be of strong heart, and do not grow weary as we attempt to do good on behalf of our country and the world. … And now, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get to work.”

After her remarks, Clinton made telephone calls to foreign leaders, toured some of the department’s key offices and received briefings before hosting Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and national security adviser James Jones. They are to meet in a closed-door session before Obama addresses the diplomatic corps.

While he is at the State Department, the president is expected to name former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, to be a special envoy for the Middle East, and former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke to be a special adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The posts are the first of several new special envoys the administration plans to create to deal with particularly vexing problems abroad.

The Senate has confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton to become secretary of state.

The Senate vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the former first lady despite lingering concerns by some Republicans that her husband’s charitable fundraising overseas could pose a conflict of interest.

Republicans and Democrat alike say her swift confirmation was necessary so that President Barack Obama could begin tackling the major foreign policy issues at hand, including two wars, increased violence in the Middle East and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Immediately after the vote, Clinton was to be sworn in during a private ceremony at the Capitol.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Heman Clark is being remembered by former colleagues as a respected man who improved North Carolina during his life.

The former prosecutor, Superior Court judge and state Cabinet secretary died Friday at the age of 93 at his Raleigh home. His widow told The News & Observer of Raleigh he died after having two strokes recently.

Then-Gov. Luther Hodges appointed Clark as a judge in 1958. Nearly 25 years later, Gov. Jim Hunt named him crime control and public safety secretary. Hunt said Sunday that Clark helped make “North Carolina a safer and fairer state.”

Clark also served as Cumberland County attorney and chairman of the county Democratic Party.

The L. Harold Poole Funeral Service and Crematory says Clark’s memorial service is set for Wednesday at White Memorial Presbyterian Church.

(Richmond Times-Dispatch, 12-02-08)

William Seward and Salmon Chase contended against Abraham Lincoln for the 1860 GOP presidential nomination. After his election, Lincoln named Seward his secretary of state and Chase his secretary of treasury. Their nominations suggested not only Lincoln’s magnanimity but his leadership.

Yesterday, a president-elect from Illinois made his chief competitor for the 2008 Democratic nomination his secretary of state. Obama does not mind sharing the spotlight; this is a gesture of supreme self-confidence.
Hillary Clinton will serve in the Cabinet’s most visible position. As the nation’s ranking diplomat, she will project America’s face to the world. During the primaries, she questioned Obama’s experience; she tried to sound more bellicose. Primaries tend to exaggerate differences, and, indeed, the two were closer than their rhetoric and postures may have led their more enthusiastic supporters to suspect. Their differences related not to world-view but to emphasis.

Regarding Clinton’s nomination, George Shultz — Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state —says: “I think she could be a very good secretary of state. She is well-informed, she’s got lots of energy — intellectual energy and physical energy — to do the job. She’s curious. She reads. She works very hard. She can listen. And she’s known around the world, so she has standing. All those things would stand her in good stead.”

Foreign policy during her husband’s administration was notable for missed opportunities. That seems unlikely to recur, if only because the Obama team will confront a slate of vexing global issues. Global economic crisis, twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, deteriorating circumstances in South Asia, Russian mischief: These cannot be avoided. Obama and Clinton might fail, but they seem unlikely to miss things, except for the inevitable unanticipated events.

The next four years will see a U.S. more amenable to international organizations such as the United Nations. Yet it would not be surprising if, when Obama-Clinton believed vital interests were endangered, the U.S. acted unilaterally. Much of the “change” involves image, although in foreign policy image can assume substance.

We would have preferred to see national security in the hands of John McCain and Joe Lieberman. We also like what a team of Clinton, Robert Gates (retained as secretary of defense), and Marine Gen. Jim Jones (national security adviser) says about Obama personally. The two dominant presidents of the 20th century — Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan — shared first-class temperaments. Obama apparently does, too.