Sunday, November 28, 2010

Presidential Succession

I was answering an EMail complaining about the cost of President Obama's recent overseas trip.  I made my usual point that it is worth every penny because it helps us solidify our relationship with India, which will be very important in the out-years.  I also made the point that I wanted our President well protected, and then mentioned that it would take a while to get down to people I would like to see in the Oval Office in the event of (Heaven Forbid) a dire event.

I cribbed this table directly from Wikipedia,
# Office Current Officer
1Vice President Joe Biden
2 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
3 President pro tempore of the Senate Daniel Inouye
4 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
5 Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner
6 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
7 Attorney General Eric Holder
8 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
10 Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
11 Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
12 Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
13 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan
14 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
15 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
16 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki
18 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

An interesting collection of people, some of whom I could see as President of these United States and some of whom cause me to shudder at the thought.  It is a long way to Eric Shinseki, who I see as an honorable man and one with the capacity to do the job.  This is not to dismiss Ms Napolitano, but I think she has been tainted by being the Secretary of Homeland Security.  Once upon a time she was the Governor of a Sovereign State.  No longer.  She is now a bureaucrat running a Department that is losing favor with the American People.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Don Lincoln for pointing out that I had a bunch of broken links.  I think I have fixed them, but if not, please send me an EMail.  Thanks.

Regards  —  Cliff

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please be forthright, but please consider that this is not a barracks.