Enthusiasm for the post-partisan paradise expected to follow Barack Obama into office is fading as the history-making president-elect turns to guidance from a presidential philosophy many thought was history.
As Obama urged the most fervent followers of his transformative message and its most cynical detractors are uniting – but they’re not applauding. Instead they’re questioning why the change candidate suddenly is chaining himself to the policy-makers of the past.
According to the unstudied observer Obama did great harm to his message of change by selecting 31 Clintonites for the first 47 staff or transition positions and his choice of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state only added insult to injury.
Thoughtful students too note that Obama is looking to the past for insights about how to handle the future – yet Bill Clinton’s still-controversial administration provides only the tools not the model. The inspiration comes from a president who was far more polarizing in his own time: Abraham Lincoln.
“Lincoln basically pulled … all the people who had been running against him into his Cabinet because whatever personal feelings there were the issue was ‘How can we get this country through this time of crisis?'” Obama has explained.
Clearly recruiting savvy opponents does not automatically land a president on Mount Rushmore. Just ask former president Harry Truman whose politically powerful secretary of state James Byrne went rogue and tried to negotiate his own foreign policy with European leaders before Truman was forced to fire him.
The challenge (to call it formidable would be like calling the Civil War divisive) is to be like Lincoln.
A gifted speaker who represented Illinois in Congress for one term Lincoln squeaked through the nominating convention after an extended battle against New York Senator William Seward a political heavyweight with correspondingly heavy political baggage.
If coincidental similarities determined success Obama could start chiseling his likeness next to Abe’s. But Lincoln’s greatness came in managing Secretary of State Seward – someone who considered himself far more qualified than Lincoln and occasionally proved insubordinate – and other able but initially uncooperative challengers on his “team of rivals.”
The key to the president’s success was balancing the wise counsel of his subordinates with a firm but respectful insistence that “the buck stops here.” Truman obviously appreciated that phrase but Lincoln had the political skill and charisma to keep his team united while still freethinking.
The brilliance that enabled a rail-splitter like Lincoln to finesse men who once held each other and their boss in contempt into a cohesive effective unit is innate. Obama is wise to study history’s examples but the future president’s personal qualities will largely determine his administration’s success.
Even his fiercest opponents acknowledge Obama’s charisma and management skills demonstrated through a nearly flawless and leak-free campaign which suggest he could harness the rebellious genius of people like Hillary.
That’s not to say Hillary is the best choice for secretary of state – the relationships she formed as first lady seem a questionable selling point especially with Bill Richardson or even Colin Powell available.
A truly bipartisan Cabinet pick would be someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger who brings energy and environmental experience as well as a unique perspective. Schwarzenegger has announced he plans to finish his term as California governor but Obama should consult him and other qualified Republicans.
A Cabinet with Clinton officials Bush officials and political outsiders carefully managed by Obama best represents the lessons of the past and the tools to improve the future.