Perry to the Rescue : Pentagon’s No. 2 official is nominated to be Pentagon’s No. 1

Hoping to end his problems with leadership at the Pentagon, President Clinton has persuaded an apparently reluctant William J. Perry, its experienced No. 2 official, to take on the top job. Influential members of Congress welcome that choice, and leaders of the uniformed services, whose trust and confidence Perry is said to have earned, should as well.

Perry, at the age of 66, has long since acquired impressive credentials in education, industry and government service. Among his major accomplishments is fostering secret research during a previous stint at the Pentagon in the 1970s into Stealth aviation technology, over the resistance of some top Air Force officials. The Stealth fighter proved its worth many times over in the air war against Iraq in early 1992.

As deputy secretary of defense Perry has had the demanding and unpopular job of reordering how the Pentagon spends about $100 billion a year on acquisition and research. If confirmed as secretary, he will be the lead policy-maker in trying to reconcile all those things the military is expected or would like to be able to do with its reduced means in this era of much tighter budgets.

In turning to the tested Perry, the President hopes to put behind him a disappointing and embarrassing year of searching for competent Pentagon leadership. Departing Defense Secretary Les Aspin, one of Congress’ brightest defense experts, proved weak as a policy-maker. Bobby Ray Inman, who had wowed Washington in earlier military and intelligence jobs, chose for reasons still unclear to say “no” to the honor after first saying “yes.” Clinton’s third time around, with William Perry, at last should prove the charm.