Clinton Prepares to Make Transition From Consultant to Commander

Behind the walls of the Arkansas governor’s mansion, Bill Clinton acted the part of President-to-be Friday as the United States set into motion a military operation that will loom large in the initial months of his presidency.

Clinton was briefed on the Somali mission by a high-level Pentagon team and consulted with congressional officials and other advisers about the precedent-setting venture. In deference to President Bush, the man whose job he will soon assume, Clinton stayed away from cameras and issued only a one-page written statement of support.

But with the operation all but certain to carry over into his first term, it was clear that Clinton is preparing to take the step from spectator to commander in chief. For a man who likes to ease slowly into his work day, with a workout and three-mile jog, an indication of that change came Friday morning as reporters noted that Clinton, while clad in a track suit, was staying resolutely behind the gates of the mansion.

According to an account provided by top aides, he was soon joined in the East Conference Room by Adm. David E. Jeremiah, the nation’s No. 2 military officer, who, with a team of aides, outlined the operation for the President-elect.

The meeting, similar to the White House session headed by Bush, also included State Department and CIA officials who traveled to Little Rock. Joining Clinton in the hourlong session were two transition officials: foreign policy adviser Samuel (Sandy) Berger and transition director Warren Christopher, a former deputy secretary of state.

At an afternoon briefing for reporters, communications director George Stephanopoulos stressed that Clinton had not taken it upon himself to consult with foreign leaders about the operation. As he has almost every day since the election, Stephanopoulos reiterated Clinton’s view that the nation has just one President at a time.

In his written statement, Clinton was careful to praise Bush for his leadership and to say little more than that he would “continue to follow this important international effort closely.”

With Clinton to take office in just six weeks--and even optimistic estimates putting the likely duration of the Somalia mission at two or three months--there were new signs that the President-elect’s transition was beginning to function as a shadow government. For the first time, Stephanopoulos said Friday that Clinton had designated a group of his foreign policy advisers to give special attention to Somalia. He also said that Clinton representatives would be placed at the Pentagon in the next several days to help monitor the Somali operation.

Another senior Clinton adviser, Madeline Albright, is said to have taken up residence at the Old Executive Office Building to monitor the work carried out by the White House’s National Security Council staff.