Mr. Bush’s Cabinet Looks Like America—But Without the Jews
Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
Washington, DC: In sharp contrast to the unprecedented number of American Jews holding cabinet-level posts in the outgoing administration of President Bill Clinton (see list below), at this time it appears that none of President-elect Bush's cabinet appointments are Jewish.
Some American Jewish leaders, such as Phil Baum of the American Jewish Congress, have commented that the situation is "a little distressing." And an editorial by The Forward on Friday opined, "Mr. Bush reached out to blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans not because those groups vote Republican - they don't - but because he wanted to send a message. He chose not to include Jews in that message."
"I am struck not only by the sharp contrast between the historic number of top Jewish decision-makers in the Clinton Administration and the paucity of Jews in President-elect Bush's circles," said National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "And it's not just the precipitous drop from the Jewish political 'high-water mark' of Senator Lieberman's vice-presidential candidacy to the dearth of Jewish figures in the proposed cabinet. The American Jewish community of 2001 is the most politically active demographic grouping in America, out of all proportion to its numbers. Unlike our recent ancestors, American Jews today are top office holders, policy analysts, and political journalists, consultants and theorists - on both the left and the right. It seems to me that the only explanation for this discrepancy - between disproportionate Jewish political involvement and the stark absence of Jews in the coming Bush cabinet - is that President-elect Bush's cabinet is comprised of a close circle of friends and trusted advisors, and Jews just aren't well-represented in that grouping."
Jewish cabinet-level Clinton Administration officials have included Secretary of Labor Robert Reich; Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers; Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman; National Security Advisor Sandy Berger; former Commerce Secretary and US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor; current US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky; Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jack Lew; National Economic Council director Gene Sperling; and US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke. Additionally, both Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have Jewish background or heritage, and other senior sub-cabinet level advisors to President Clinton have included current Deputy White House Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste, former Counsel to the President and White House Communications Director Ann Lewis, and former Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy Rahm Emmanuel.
