It’s a unique Washington tradition that when someone is removed from a high-level government post, that person must not only act as though he or she left voluntarily, but also must do so in a public setting.
It’s a unique Washington tradition that when someone is removed from a high-level government post, that person must not only act as though he or she left voluntarily, but also must do so in a public setting.
Witness Chuck Hagel, the soon-to-be-former defense secretary, who, less than two years after being named to the job, was un-named by President Barack Obama last week.
At a White House event announcing the move, Obama went out of his way to cast it as Hagel’s choice, saying, “Chuck came to me to discuss the final quarter of my presidency and determined that having guided the department through this transition, it was an appropriate time for him to complete his service.”
But Hagel’s body language — think kid who didn’t get the Christmas present he had waited for all year — told another story. (Don’t even get me started on how much of the real story was written on Vice President Joe Biden’s ever-expressive face.) And so did the news stories about Hagel’s departure.
“White House officials said Obama had lost confidence in Hagel’s ability to oversee the war against the Islamic State and U.S. military operations in Iraq and Syria,” The Washington Post reported. According to The New York Times, Hagel “was never able to penetrate the president’s tight national security team of West Wing loyalists, officials at the White House and the Pentagon said.”
And so, Hagel was left to do the thing Washington always asks of those who have been forcibly removed from a lofty perch: Act like you are thrilled about it all. Hagel performed that duty admirably, calling the job “the greatest privilege of my life.”
Chuck Hagel, for having to sulk and bear it, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.
Cillizza covers the White House for The Washington Post and writes The Fix, its politics blog.