Chuck Hagel Lands a Job in the Obama Administration

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Holly Bailey

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Holly Bailey

Obama and Hagel in Amman, Jordan, July 2008. Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images

Guess who’s finally joining the administration? At the White House today, President Obama will announce that he’s naming former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel as cochair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which oversees the intel community. First reported by Foreign Policy, Hagel’s move had been rumored for months—though when asked by NEWSWEEK about his status earlier this month, he declined to talk about it. “I won’t talk about my conversations with the president,” Hagel said. The Vietnam veteran, who retired from the Senate last year, did not endorse Obama or his other close friend John McCain during last year’s presidential race. Yet it was no secret that Hagel’s views were more closely aligned to Obama’s than McCain’s, especially on foreign policy. Hagel, who initially supported the invasion of Iraq, ultimately became one of the war’s most outspoken critics. In the summer of 2008, he traveled with Obama on the Democrat’s first overseas tour, visiting Afghanistan and Iraq, and has been an informal adviser and confidant to Obama ever since. In recent months, he has counseled both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, another close friend, as the White House considers a strategy change in Afghanistan. Hagel's cochair will be former Democratic senator David Boren, once chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee who currently serves as president of the University of Oklahoma.

Tag(s): The White House, Intelligence, Chuck Hagel

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Posted By: thriftybob (November 2, 2009 at 3:01 PM)

What a joke. Ex-Senator Chuck Hagel was on the Senate banking committee just before we had the economic melt down. Maybe we could create a bailout and name it for Senator Hagel, as part of his lasting accomplishments? He is the author of the nothing to say press conference, which he had everyone standing around wondering whats the matter with this guy. He is another "all hat, no cattle" who claims to be a Republican, but in reality is all in it for himself. His only accomplishment was to show how much he couldn't work with the past President, who was from his party, but now can work with this new President, who is more to his liking. If this is the sign of "a good, intelligent and experienced man", the bar sure is pretty low, even by the standard of current President of the USA.

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Posted By: Davole (October 29, 2009 at 10:25 AM)

Did Barack Obama have to haggle with Chuck Hagel to confer that appointment?

The ditherer-in-chief will probably use that appointment as a pathetic attempt to launch a smoke-and-mirrors excuse for further delay in acting on General Stanley McChrystal's urgent recommendations which were submitted in late August.

Obama dithers - and patriotic American soldiers die!

Maybe Barack Obama should be credited with honouring his naive campaign promise to withdraw American troops from military action as soon as possible.

But there is a slight problem with the way in which he is accomplishing that objective - those withdrawn soldiers are being returned in coffins and body-bags!

It's time for Barack Obama to receive a dishonourable discharge from his position as wimp-in-chief!

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Posted By: Dredd (October 29, 2009 at 8:50 AM)

More likely than not this is a good call. Hagel is representative of the republican party before the neoCons destroyed its quality with ghoulish rhetoric and bad faith.