Christopher to Help Clinton Fill Ticket

Turning attention to the most pressing personnel decision of his candidacy, probable Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton on Tuesday named Los Angeles lawyer Warren Christopher to head up a team to help Clinton select a running mate.

Christopher, who recently headed the independent commission that recommended sweeping changes in the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rodney G. King beating, is expected to begin producing names for Clinton’s consideration “soon,” the Arkansas governor said.

Assisting Christopher will be Vernon E. Jordan Jr., former head of the National Urban League, and Madeleine M. Kunin, former governor of Vermont.

“I want us to look at a wide range of qualified Americans and then I want an in-depth review process to go on,” Clinton told reporters before leaving Little Rock for campaign events in Minneapolis.

“I want it to be done in as nonpolitical a way as possible and I think they’ll do that.”

Clinton said he has not set a definitive deadline for the group to submit a list of recommended vice presidential nominees.

“The timeline is going to be when I feel comfortable making the decision,” he said. “We’re going to agree on a list and then we’re going to do some inquiries, some evaluations. We’re going to discuss it between the three of them and me and we’re going to do some work to make sure we pick a good nominee.”

The team named by Clinton is comprised of a black, a woman and a prominent Democrat from California, which is shaping up as the most crucial battleground of the fall.

In recent interviews, Democrats from across the country have strongly recommended that Clinton select a running mate who could help him win California, where current polls show a weakened President Bush defeating the putative Democratic nominee.

Christopher, the 66-year-old chairman of the Los Angeles law firm O’Melveny & Myers, is an influential political insider who has served in every Democratic Administration since 1960.

He was a trade negotiator under President John F. Kennedy, deputy attorney general in the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration and deputy secretary of state under the last Democratic President, Jimmy Carter.

During the last months of the Carter Administration, Christopher served as lead negotiator for the release of the American hostages held in Iran. His work earned him the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Clinton, in announcing the appointment, called the Los Angeles lawyer “a genuine American statesman.” He also praised the judgment of Jordan and Kunin.