Obama Taps Veteran Democrats For Pentagon, State Handovers

WASHINGTON — President-elect Obama has hired former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sam Nunn to help shepherd his Pentagon transition, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Nunn, a former Georgia senator and veteran Democratic defense adviser, was once rumored as a potential running mate for Obama. Transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Nunn will perform "an informal senior adviser role throughout the defense transition process."

Nunn's role has been described by others, speaking anonymously because the transition teams have not been announced, as the leader of Obama's defense transition. Similarly, a senior administration official said former Secretary of State Warren Christopher would advise Obama on his State Department transition.

Obama's national security transition offices will work with the outgoing Bush administration to hand off management of two wars and complex diplomacy with North Korea, Russia and other nations. Obama has not announced his choices to be defense secretary and secretary of state.

Nunn and Christopher would be part of a national security brain trust for Obama that is heavy on former Clinton administration officials, including possible national security adviser James Steinberg, a former State Department official.

At the Pentagon, the large transition office would likely include former Clinton Navy Secretary Richard Danzig and former Clinton-era Pentagon comptroller Bill Lynn, officials said. The announcements are expected later this week.

"There's a lot of disinformation out there," Cutter said. "We're working hard to put the agenda review teams together and expect they'll be announced and inside the agencies by the end of the week."

Clinton Pentagon officials turned think tankers Michele Flournoy and Kurt Campbell are also mentioned as part of the Obama transition office at the Pentagon. Clinton-era State Department officials Wendy Sherman and Tom Donilon are mentioned in similar roles at State.

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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Robert Burns contributed to this report.

Comments

[SCG]

I think Barack is doing exactly the right thing here.

Recall the lost first year of the Clinton administration, as young newbies took charge and quickly went into disarray.

These are experienced people, who are familiar with the various departments. They can take charge, quickly without the long learning curve, allowing Obama time to get his team in place and up and running.
This transfer of power comes with more on going situations then in recent memory, the economic crisis, alone will be daunting enough, without amateur hour at defense and state.

[RiggsMD]

What has to be taken into consideration is that the Clintons are not the President-elect. President Obama will make certain all these Clinton people do things according to his plan of change. Also many of these people are extremely experienced and even more formidable under the right leadership. So before people get the wrong impression, think again.

[dizmo4]

Everyone needs to take a step back and realize that these are not the officials that Obama will name to the cabinet or even be in his administration. These are the TRANSITION TEAM. They are there to help determine what needs to be done. There aren't many democrats that have experience. And honestly, do you want Obama to be using the same Republicans that got us into this mess? Yes, I'd like to see a Scrowcroft but beyond him there simply are not many Republicans that he could call upon that did not serve or have ties to the Bush (43) administration.

The transition team isn't about picking Cabinet secretaries. Its about picking determining a status of each department. Its about figuring out what needs to be done by a President Obama. The people that know what the State Dept should look like are former employees. People that know what teh DoD should look like are people familiar with the DoD.

Finally, I expect there to be more people named to these teams. They will draw upon a spectrum of knowledge and experience but there aren't many knowledgeable democrats that weren't a part of the Clinton administration at some point in their careers. So cut Obama some slack...

[Indubio]

I don't think you need to explain what a transition team is versus what a cabinet and officials advisers do. Here's the concern: I'm sure you've heard the old cliche that you are you you associate with. Think about this for a moment before you blurt out a defensive answer: Had Obama picked a single real progressive or serious liberal for any advisory position on his transition team? In my opinion, he has not and that begs the question why a man who the GOP claims is a socialist is sticking to blue dog Democrats like Nunn, DLC Democrats like John Podesta and Rahm Emanuel, and strictly centrist Democrats, Independents, and even Republicans? There's a reason Obama is doing this and unfortunately, if your a progressive or liberal or vested yourself in Obama, you are in denial about his motives. I vested myself in Obama, I'm extremely liberal, but I'm not disappointed in anything Obama has done because what he is doing was entirely predictable. Obama is a socialist. The man may be a liberal but he intends to govern from the center and quite possibly from the center right in much the way Bill Clinton governed. Compared to an extremists like Bush, even DLC Democrats seem liberal but they aren't.

[Shieldmaiden]

You had me a little bit until you wrote "Obama is a socialist." WTF?

[Jahmekyah]

How many "progressive liberal democrats" are there out there who have ever worked in any administration or any cabinet post in the past 30 years??? Whats that? Precisely, NONE. So how can he hire any liberal progressive democrats to help assess the many governmental departments and there inner workings if there aren't any? Furthermore....Correct me if I'm wrong but has Obama ever confessed to being a super liberal Democrat? I don't think so. Furthermore...the last I checked the country was made up of MORE than liberal democrats...I believe, despite the machinations of urself or the right wing, the majority of the country is Moderate (centre right or centre left).

[HerbTee]

Obama has never said he was a liberal. That label was pinned to him by the ReTHUGs and their bleating sheep that were looking for an excuse...any excuse not to vote for him. I think we'll find that Obama is a centralist who will govern to the left or the right, depending on what makes best sense for the majority of the people and to gain bipartisanship.

Being a centralist sure beats what we've had the last 8 years...an administration totally stuck on the right and totally stuck on stupid.

[RainDance33]

Absolutely correct. And let us not forget what an intelligent campaign Obama ran, this will be reflected in his choices now and we must support him and acknowledge that this is one smart man who knows exactly what he is doing, who has clear goals and knows the best path to getting there.

To echo this poster, cut the guy some slack.

[lafrance]

It's ashame that we dems have been mostly out of power for 30 years with the exception of clinton. that leaves us with such a shallow bench to go to that Obama is almost forced to use heavily from the Clinton white house for anyone with experience. It would have been nice if he could have chosen from more then just one administration for that help.
We absolutely must not allow our party to go almost 30 years straight without a democratic white house and leave our bench so shallow again for future needs.

[MsLiz]

I suspect that there are plenty of brainy people on our bench, but they don't get written up in the press because the press doesn't know anything about them.

[laurie91020]

Anyone EXCEPT Warren Christopher.....PLEASE!!!

[Carolab]

Really, what a bad job he did in Florida in 2000.

[blueskybigstar]

Remember, no matter whom Obama intends to include in his administration's efforts, it will be Obama who will be making the decisions. It is important to have diverse voices included. In studies about universities it has been shown that the quality of discussion and learning was higher when classes were filled with people with diverse backgrounds. The same has been shown with juries. Juries who are diverse in background examine evidence better as a group. It is still early people. We don't know how some of these characters may have changed or softened over the years, especially after being influenced by the likes of Barack Obama who changed the country and made many Obamacans.

[wdw102]

test

[EdA]

Again, everyone, this is a TRANSITION team. It does make sense to have some people involved who know the issues and where to start looking for skeletons (literally as well as figuratively). As long as they do not have much involvement in setting policy. The idea of Sam Nunn having anything to do with personnel policies with our Armed Forces, for example, sends shivers through me -- unless he is willing to admit that his bigotry has led directly to a deterioration in the overall quality of Americans serving in our Armed Forces and that the homophobia that is his legacy has created an important obstacle in America's ability to defend itself.

[republicanfreezone]

Is Warren Christopher still around? He was such a drag as Gore's adviser in the 2000 debacle. He's smart but so slow on the draw. A gentleman who played with thugs. Keep him out of any controversy, for heavens sake!

[ScottCandage]

A smart, slow on the draw person seems to me to be exactly whom one would want to be a liaison with State, who are diplomats. Slow and smart is the language of diplomacy. As for Nunn, I can't think of a better choice for the transition at Defense.

[MuseScavenger]

Exactly...

[Jahmekyah]

How people allow some latitude for all the cabinet positions to be chosen and start working before already passing judgment on the failure of Obama to bring change. I mean seriously people, the guys been the president elect for A WEEK...A WEEK. I'm not saying give him a pass on everything, but good grief people, he hasn't made any cabinet choices yet, everything u've heard are rumours. Yet u all have ur under garments in a bunch. Man, u democrats...even when ur IN power u compain...don't know what to do with urselves do u.

[Shieldmaiden]

Haven't you heard? Obama is officially the worst president in American history. We're voting for Palin in 2012. Ugh. Never underestimate the Democrats' ability to eat their young prematurely.

[canucklivinginUSA]

That is so true, hence why we are incapable of holding our own against the Repubs. We are weak because we prefer to attack each other instead of presenting a strong front. Its disgusting

[larry278]

If BHO's choices don't work out, Mr Emanuel, Obama's COS, could check out the UK for opportunities since he has a ballett(sp?) background. The UK is in need of ballett dancers & lists them among workers which it needs according to the FINANCIAL TIMES. Mr Emanuel might get a job teaching ballett, if he's still agile & remembers the moves of the ballett. Since Mr Emanuel is a quick study, has proven his agility as a politician, speaks English very well-if things don't work out well for BHO or Mr Emanuel is less than popular among Americans as BHO's COS, Mr Emanuel could head for the UK & teach. Since Mr Emanuel has also worked in the private financial sector, he might explore other opportunities in the UK for the longer term.
It's far too soon to predict how well BHO has chosen advisors, etc will work out. BHO won the election to become POTUS; he gets to choose his cabinet, advisors & White House staff. Since BHO hasn't taken office yet, predicting how well he'll do as POTUS is premature & most risky.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

OK to your final paragraph Larry. but your whole Emanuel schtick has me asking, "What's your problem? Do you suffer from two left feet?

[MuseScavenger]

Get a dictionary. Your spell check isn't working.

[NotMcCain]

Axelrod's apparently on vacation in Mexico this week.

Maybe that's why the discipline...leaks....focus....all seem a bit different.

[Hawka]

Meh, the man deserves it, if that means a couple of leaks then whatever.

[MsLiz]

If I were the incumbent president of Mexico, I'd be worried.

[DundeeNatalSA]

The bigger the team gets the more disinformation and leaks and confusion. The campaign had a solid core of people running it. I fear the larger this team - and of course it has to include hundreds of people - might make things more difficult. But you never know. Maybe everyone is on the same page.

[NotMcCain]

I was afraid Nunn would be involved. We don't need any more neocons.

Camn.

[cheforacle]

Nunn opposed both Iraq wars. he is hardly a neocon. His job is securing loose nukes for the strategic Nuclear Initiative.

[Carolab]

Who were YOU thinking of?

[canucklivinginUSA]

To all the dissenters, I would like to understand what your views of change truly is? Change by bringing people who are completely inexperience into the WH and f@ck up President Obama's transition or change in attitude and bringing in a outlook on life that is infused with positivism instead of fear like we had for the last 8 years? Please do tell because I am getting extremely annoy by you people

[Shieldmaiden]

They're annoying me too. You cannot have know nothings during a transition. They'll have new faces in the administration, but new people during a transition is probably a dangerous idea. If someone drops the ball the entire thing could end up being a wreck. Sigh. And I thought I was new to politics.

[MsLiz]

I agree.

There is no harm in listening to the thoughts of experienced Democrats. Their suggestions can be accepted or ignored.

Senator Nunn was a southern Democrat when others turned into Republicans (Shelby) and fled the party. As a southern Democrat, that means a lot to me.

Don't hold it against him that he was against gays in the military. That was not a novel position at the time. He spent nine years in the Coast Guard (1959-1968) before the Stonewall riots, when gays were still closeted. I seriously doubt that Obama is appointing Nunn to discuss whether gays should be in the military. His knowledge and experience regarding other issues are valuable and his very presence lends credibility to the Obama team.

[chronic]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

[NotMcCain]

What do I want?

No more right-wingers. (Truthfully, I don't even want center-right. How about center...plus some refreshing progressive input???)

I'd rather see centrist Dem Wes Clark on the transition team than right-winger Sam Nunn.

[Hawka]

We bar these guys on everything, even the center-right whole be useful in pushing agenda in Congress then we destroy Obama's whole message about putting our differences aside and working for the common good.