WP: For New National Security Adviser, a Mixed Record

[kskiska]

Stephen J. Hadley, who will be elevated to national security adviser after Condoleezza Rice wins Senate confirmation as secretary of state, is a quintessential staff aide who views himself as a "facilitator" -- someone who makes the policy trains run on time.

But Hadley's record on that score is mixed. The Sept. 11 commission report was critical of Hadley's handling of policy development in several areas. Hadley was also thrust in an uncomfortable spotlight when he accepted blame in 2003 for allowing faulty intelligence to appear in the president's State of the Union address.

Hadley, 57, has worked his way up through a succession of government posts, with Vice President Cheney as one of his main advocates. But although becoming national security adviser has long been Hadley's dream, he has not left behind a rich paper trail of writings or books that outline a foreign policy philosophy, except for displaying a passion for missile defense. He appears to have won his coveted post in part through a combination of long hours, tight-lipped loyalty and a tendency to call little attention to himself.

"He has a severe case of 'prison pallor' because he's in the office all the time," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, who served on the "deputies committee" chaired by Hadley when he was deputy director of the White House Budget Office.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55406-2004Nov16.html

[Booster]

1. I don't understand the "mixed record" - where's the good part

of his record?

[Gloria]

2. Why would he need any "philosophy"?? He's part of Bushco and

it's all Bush/Cheney crap. He wouldn't be in this position unless he shared their views, totally.

[GoBlue]

3. "The lowest point for Hadley

in the first term came when he accepted blame for the error in the State of the Union".

Going low for Bush can be so rewarding.