Bush Names Controversial CIA Man for National Security Job

President-elect George Bush today chose Robert Gates, the controversial No. 2 official at the CIA, to be his deputy assistant for national security.

Gates was President Reagan’s choice to head the intelligence agency after the death of William J. Casey. But Reagan withdrew Gates’ nomination in March, 1987, amid questions about his role in the Iran-Contra affair.

During the height of the Iran-Contra investigation, even some Republican senators questioned whether Gates should remain at the CIA after it was disclosed that he had helped Casey prepare testimony to Congress that some called misleading.

Gates, 45, joined the CIA in 1966 and was a member of the National Security Council staff from 1974 to 1979.

“He knows the system, the critical importance of the interagency process for presidential decision-making and the details of the management of that process,” Bush said in a statement issued in Washington.

Bush, who is vacationing in Texas, also announced the nomination of Richard Kerr to replace Gates as deputy CIA director. Kerr is currently deputy CIA director in charge of intelligence operations.

Kerr’s nomination is subject to Senate approval; Gates’ position is not.

The Gates appointment, coupled with the designation of Brent Scowcroft as his national security adviser, ensures that Bush will have a veteran foreign policy team in the White House with experience in intelligence matters.

Whether this lineup could bring about a foreign policy formed mostly in the White House or in the State Department remains to be seen.