Chapter I
By the time all the votes had been counted, Governor Dukakis had beat Vice President Bush with a victory of nearly one and a half percent in the popular vote translating to a victory in the Electoral College as 306-232. But alongside that of the reverberating victory for the Presidency, the Democrats had won a series of down-ballot victories, having won a net total of five Senate seats [1], thirteen House seats [2], and three Governor seats [3] in all. For Congress, President-elect Dukakis would have strong support with fifty-nine Senators and two hundred and seventy-one Representatives from his own party, enabling any kind of major legislative program (with cooperation from the more 'liberal' Republicans in the Senate). But for now, the priority was in getting a cabinet organized and to begin the initial planning for his first 'one hundred days'.
In the wake of the victory by the new President-elect, some of the most immediate and biggest questions besides the type of Presidency that he would have, would be who his appointees were among the Cabinet agencies? The Cabinet was always the biggest question for what a Presidency was expected to look like, with the figures being chosen (usually) to represent the policies that the President wished to emphasize, none of which were more important than the 'Big Four' (State, Treasury, Defense, Justice). Alongside the Cabinet, there were also the choices of the West Wing staff, of which most importantly included that of the Chief of Staff and the National Security Adviser.
Immediately the cabinet speculation had set forth following the victory by Dukakis, focusing principally upon that of the Big Four posts. For State, the most common names being tossed around were that of Vice President Walter Mondale, Deputy Secretary Warren Christopher (who had served as the Deputy Secretary of State under Carter and played a pivotal role in getting the Iranian hostages released, alongside that of serving as the Deputy Attorney General in the Johnson Administration), and Representative Lee H. Hamilton (who had co-headed the House investigation on Iran-Contra and was serving as the number two Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee), with both Senators Paul Sarbanes (serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) and Bill Bradley (serving on the Senate Intelligence Committee) having been mentioned as potential dark-horses for State. For Treasury, the most common names being tossed around were that of Representative William H. Gray III (who was serving as the Chair of the House Budget Committee), E. Gerald Corrigan (who was serving as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York), Felix Rohatyn (who had served a role in saving New York City from bankruptcy in the 1970s as part of the MAC and was now serving as a senior partner at Lazarus), and Robert Strauss (who had served as the former United States Trade Representative under President Carter and now serving as co-chairman of the National Economic Commission). For Defense, the most common names being tossed around were that of Senator Sam Nunn (who was serving as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee), Representative Les Aspin (who was serving as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee), Secretary Harold Brown (who had served as Secretary of Defense under President Carter), and Under Secretary William Perry (who had served as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering under President Carter), with Bobby Ray Inman (who had served as Director of the National Security Agency under President Carter and Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency under President Reagan) having been mentioned as a potential-dark horse candidate for Defense. For Justice, the most common names being tossed around were that of Susan Estrich (who had served as campaign manager for the Dukakis campaign since Sasso had been fired), Paul B. Brountas (who was a close friend of President Dukakis and considered a skilled lawyer), and Vice President Walter Mondale (who had served as the Minnesota Attorney General before becoming a Senator).
But even aside the Big Four, there was a wide variety of speculation for the Cabinet posts below them alongside that of the additional Cabinet-level positions and other major executive postings within the Federal government. It was arguably for those postings that would see further consternation and criticism over, especially in having to bring the Democratic Party together now that the election had been won. Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development were usually the most often mentioned cabinet posts for those who had been connected to the Jackson campaign or had endorsed him in the primary. But it was merely a question of waiting and seeing for whom the President-elect would nominate.
The first announcement from President-elect Dukakis would be on November 28th, with the announcement that John Sasso would be the White House Chief of Staff, and the promise of further cabinet announcements to follow shortly. In the wake of the announcement by the President-elect on who his chief of staff, speculation would intensify further over who land some of the top jobs, with the focus winding up heavily on that of who Dukakis would nominate for Secretary of State. The most recent reports had grown to suggest that Warren Christopher had taken himself out of the running, with being between the former Vice President Walter Mondale and Representative Lee Hamilton as the pick for State. On December 4th, President-elect Dukakis came his first nominations to the Cabinet with Walter Mondale to serve as Secretary of State and Lee H. Hamilton as Director of Central Intelligence, and Madeleine Albright being named to serve as his National Security Adviser. Among a report from the New York Times on the nomination of Walter Mondale to serve as Secretary of State “... Whether the choice of the former Vice President to serve as President-elect Dukakis's Secretary of State will serve as a lightning rod for attacks against the incoming administration will wait to be seen, but sources in the Senate suggest at least a smooth process ahead for Walter Mondale and the entire cabinet of the President-elect.”
A promise made by the President-elect to follow up with that of the first postings for the economy, would likewise ramp up speculation on the four major economy postings in a presidential administration, the Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. The position of Treasury had grown increasingly centered between two figures, Felix Rohatyn and Representative William Gray III, but reports from the Dukakis camp had said that Rohatyn was growing more and more likely to be positioned for the role of Treasury. Commerce on the other hand was described to have been “anyone's ballgame” per the Washington Post, with some of the leading figures mentioned including Anne Wexler, who had served in a major posting in the Carter Administration and as a leading Democratic lobbyist in DC, Governor Jim Blanchard of Michigan, and former Governor Martha Layna Collins of Kentucky, and was being rumored as not to be announced in the next series of announcements. The position of Director of the Office of Management and Budget had found itself as a horse-race between Representative William Gray III (who is the Chairman of the House Budget Committee) and Alice M. Rivlin, who had served as the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office, with insiders putting Alice M. Rivlin ahead of Representative Gray. Finally for the choice of Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, nearly everyone was considering that Lawrence Summers who had served as one of the President-elect's closest economic advisers on the campaign trail to be considered for the position. Finally on December 9th, came the second series of announcements, nominating Felix Rohatyn for Secretary of Treasury and Representative William Gray for Director of Office of Management and Budget, with Lawrence Summers being named to serve as his Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
The speculations for the remaining cabinet posts continued, with it apparent that the President-elect's next announcement was to finish that of the 'Big Four' in cabinet postings along with finishing the 'national security' aspect of his cabinet. Reports from both the New York Times and Washington Post had said that Susan Estrich was the preeminent front-runner for the position of Attorney General with Paul Brountas being rumored to serve as White House Counsel. Both the contenders for the nomination of Secretary of Defense and the Ambassador to the United Nations were more murkier. Both Senator Sam Nunn and Representative Les Aspin (as the Chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committee respectively) had reportedly declined to serve for Defense, with rumors having grown to suggest that William Perry and Graham T. Allison (who was the current dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government) were being actively considered for Defense alongside former Secretary Harold Brown, who had served President Carter as his Secretary of Defense. For the position of United Nations Ambassador, most reports were speculating that Samuel Lewis was the preeminent nominee for the post, although some were suggesting that Peter Tarnoff (the President of the Council of Foreign Relations) would be receiving the job. Finally on December 12th, the President-elect came out for his third series of announcements, nominating William Perry for Secretary of Defense, Susan Estrich for Attorney General, and Samuel Lewis for Ambassador to the United Nations.
But on the speculation went for who would land jobs in the Dukakis Administration now as the 'Big Four' found themselves completed as it began in earnest for those cabinet positions below it. Following the third announcement, it rapidly become known that Frederick P. Salvucci, who had served the-then Governor Dukakis as Secretary of Transportation would be following him up, with his announcement having been delayed because of scheduling reasons. The rumors circulating around the choice for Secretary of Agriculture were between Jim Hightower, the Texas Secretary of Agriculture, and Jim Nichols, the Minnesota Secretary of Agriculture, with an expectation that one of the two would be picked for the position. The choice for Secretary of Commerce had rapidly materialized around that of Anne Wexler with Governor Jim Blanchard refusing any kind of cabinet post (the Governor was also mentioned as a potential posting for Labor). For the choice of Housing and Urban Development, it had fallen between Ernest Morial, the former Mayor of New Orleans, and George Latimer, the current mayor of St. Paul, with most placing it in favor of Ernest Morial; the revelation of Henry Cisneros's affair in October had reportedly 'doomed him' from any kind of cabinet posting in the Dukakis Administration (where it was expected that he'd likely wind up receiving a posting in a Dukakis Administration). The considerations for Secretary of Energy for the most part had focused on Representative Philip R. Sharp, who was the current Chairman of the Energy and Power Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On December 16th, President-elect Dukakis followed with his fourth series of announcements, nominating Jim Hightower for Secretary of Agriculture, Anne Wexler for Secretary of Commerce, Ernest Morial as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Frederick P. Salvucci as Secretary of Transportation, and Representative Philip R. Sharp as Secretary of Energy.
Five cabinet positions remained yet to be announced by the President-elect, Interior, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Veterans' Affairs; there was also the addition of two cabinet-level positions, the United States Trade Representative and that of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (which the then-Governor had promised on the campaign trail to promote into a cabinet-level department). For the choice of Interior, there were only two names being mentioned, former Governors Bruce Babbitt of Arizona and Dick Lamm of Colorado, with most putting the edge for Babbitt getting Interior rather than Lamm. For Labor, you had both Lane Kirkland (who was the current president of the AFL-CIO), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (who had served as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission under President Carter) as the most often mentioned names, with Eleanor Holmes Norton having the edge over Lane Kirkland per reports from inside the transition team. For Health and Human Services, there was Phillip Lee (who was serving as president of the San Francisco Health Commission), Karen Davis (who was the head of the Department of Health Policy and Management at John Hopkins University), and Hale Champion (who had served as the Governor's chief of staff and had served as Under Secretary of the Department of Health, Education & Welfare under President Carter) being the most often mentioned names, with some reports suggesting that it would be either Karen Davis or Hale Champion to be named by the President-elect to head HHS. The posting for Secretary of Education for the most part had centered on former Representative John Brademas, who had served a major role in the Committee on Education and Labor and then followed on as President of New York University. Veterans' Affairs was still something of an unknown, with speculation on it highly varied, although some reports were starting to lean towards Representative Wayne Dowdy to receive the nomination following his defeat against Trent Lott for the Mississippi Senate (having served as chairman of the Education, Training, and Employment Subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee while serving in the House). The choice of United States Trade Representative was again one that was a choice between two figures, with both Representatives Bob Matsui and Don Pease, with Representative Don Pease emerging from the major support of Vice President-elect John Glenn [4], in order to tie major trade relations of the United States with that of human rights. The choice for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency had been rumored as of late to be between four figures, William K. Reilly (who was serving as president of the World Wildlife Fund), James Gustave Speth (who was serving as president of the World Resources Initative), Jessica Mathews (who was serving as vice president and director of research at the World Resources Initiative), and Fred Krupp (who was serving as president of the Environmental Defense Fund) with speculation leaning towards William K. Reilly or Fred Krupp as the likely nominee for Administrator of the EPA. Finally on December 21st came the President-elect's fifth and final series of major Cabinet announcements, nominating Bruce Babbitt as Secretary of Interior, Eleanor Holmes Norton as Secretary of Labor, Karen Davis as Secretary of Health and Human Services, John Brademas as Secretary of Education, Representative Wayne Dowdy as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Representative Don Pease as United States Trade Representative, and Jessica Mathews as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The President-elect's cabinet had been set, and now all that waited for him (aside from the work by the transition team and briefings for President-elect Dukakis) was the inauguration and to begin his term of office.
Dukakis Cabinet:
Secretary of State: Walter Mondale
Secretary of Treasury: Felix Rohatyn
Secretary of Defense: William Perry
Attorney General: Susan Estrich
Secretary of the Interior: Bruce Babbitt
Secretary of Agriculture: Jim Hightower
Secretary of Commerce: Anne Wexler
Secretary of Labor: Eleanor Holmes Norton
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Karen Davis
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Ernest Morial
Secretary of Transportation: Frederick P. Salvucci
Secretary of Energy: Philip R. Sharp
Secretary of Education: John Brademas
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Wayne Dowdy
Director of Central Intelligence: Lee H. Hamilton
National Security Adviser: Madeleine Albright
United Nations Ambassador: Samuel W. Lewis
United States Trade Representative: Don Pease
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: William Gray
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers: Lawrence H. Summers
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Jessica Mathews
White House Chief of Staff: John Sasso
White House Deputy Chief of Staff: Michael D. Barnes
White House Counsel: Paul Brountas
Congressional Liaison: Kirk O'Donnell
Special Assistant to the President: Ronald Brown
[1] The Democrats had gained Connecticut (Joe Lieberman won over incumbent Lowell P. Weicker Jr.), Nebraska (Bob Kerrey won over incumbent David Karnes), Nevada (Richard Bryan won over incumbent Chic Hecht), Virginia (Chuck Robb won in an open election against Maurice Dawkins), Washington (Mike Lowry won in an open election against Slade Gorton), and Wyoming (John Vinich had won over incumbent Malcolm Wallop). The Democrats had lost Mississippi (Trent Lott won in an open election against Wayne Dowdy).
[2] The Democrats had won California's 12th (Anna G. Eshoo won in an open election against Tom Campbell), California's 19th (Gary K. Hart won over incumbent Bob Lagomarsino), Georgia's 4th (Ben L. Jones won over incumbent Pat Swindall), Illinois's 4th (George E. Sangmeister won over incumbent Jack Davis), Indiana's 3rd (Thomas W. Ward won over incumbent John P. Piler), Missouri's 7th (Max Bacon won in an open election against Mel Hancock), Nebraska's 2nd (Peter Hoagland won in an open election against Jerry Schenken), New Mexico's 1st (Tom Udall won in an open election against Steven Schiff), New York's 20th (Nita Lowey won over incumbent Joseph J. DioGuardi), Oklahoma's 1st (Kurt Glassco won over incumbent Jim Inhofe), Oregon's 5th (Mike Kopetski won over incumbent Denny Smith), South Carolina's 2nd (Jim Leventis won over incumbent Floyd Spence), Texas's 13th (Bill Sarpalius won in an open election against Larry S. Milner), and the Texas's 14th (Greg Laughlin won over incumbent Mac Sweeney). The Democrats had lost Rhode Island's 1st (Ronald Machtley won over incumbent Fernand St. Germain). An Independent had won Vermont's At Large (Bernie Sanders won in an open election against Peter Plympton Smith (Republican) and Paul N. Poirier (Democrat)).
[3] The Democrats had won Indiana (Evan Bayh won in an open election against John Mutz), Utah (Ted Wilson won against incumbent Norman H. Bangerter), and West Virginia (Gaston Caperton won over incumbent Arch A. Moore Jr.).
[4] Senator John Glenn would resign his Senate seat on November 23rd, setting up intense speculation within Ohio over whom would replace him. Among the candidates being mentioned to replace him were that of Governor Richard Celeste, Attorney General Anthony Celebrezze Jr., Secretary of State Sherrod Brown, Representatives Dennis E. Eckart and Marcy Kaptur, and Mayor Charles Luken of Cincinnati, but most Democratic party operatives weren't considering Attorney General Celebrezze Jr. to be a serious candidate with him aiming for the Governor's mansion in 1990 rather than that of the Senate. Finally on December 10th, Governor Celeste named Secretary of State Sherrod Brown to Ohio's vacant Senate seat, as the newest Democratic Senator from Ohio.
