Clinton Nominates Albright, Cohen for Key Cabinet Posts

President Clinton, laying the foundation for his second-term Cabinet, nominated U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright on Thursday to be the nation’s first female secretary of State and chose retiring Republican Sen. William S. Cohen of Maine to be secretary of Defense.

Ending a tortuous search for a national security team, Clinton also named National Security Advisor Anthony Lake to run the troubled Central Intelligence Agency and filled Lake’s current post with his deputy, Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger.

Clinton, who has stressed his desire for diversity and bipartisanship in his selections, declared in an Oval Office announcement that the four had “remarkable qualities of intellect, energy and leadership. All are committed to work together as a team that will rise above partisanship.”

The new team does not signal a major change in policy direction for the Clinton administration, aides said. But it is likely to bring a decided shift in style.

Albright, 59, who would be the highest-ranking woman ever in the U.S. government, is far more outspoken than Warren Christopher, the mild-mannered man she replaces. And the politically moderate Cohen showed himself in 24 years in Congress to be an independent-minded figure who often went his own way, to the frustration of some leaders of his party.

Albright, Cohen and Lake must be confirmed by the Senate. Berger does not. Officials said they expect Clinton to name all other Cabinet nominations for his second term by Christmas. They said he will announce his selections for the economic posts, including the chiefs of the Treasury, Commerce and Labor departments and the U.S. trade representative, at the same time.

Thursday’s selections drew praise from some senior congressional Republicans, including Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Helms, who was consulted before the selections, called Albright a “tough and courageous lady” and predicted that the nominees would win confirmation.

Administration officials hope that both Albright and Cohen will help them convince a budget-conscious Congress to spend money for U.S. diplomatic needs and on the peacekeeping missions that are a growing element of Pentagon activities.

Albright’s forceful expression of administration policy has won her praise at home but sometimes has grated on foreign diplomats at the United Nations and elsewhere. Critics sometimes have contended that she lacks a strategic view of the U.S. foreign policy role.

Thanking Clinton for her selection, Albright called for changes in international relations and global institutions, including the United Nations.

“We live in an era without power blocs, in which old assumptions must be reexamined, institutions modernized and relationships transformed,” she said.

And she mentioned the agonizing tug of war with Congress over funding of diplomatic programs.

“I understand that the task of defending the expenditure of dollars overseas is not an easy one, especially now when the Cold War is over and nuclear weapons no longer target our homes,” she said. “But if American leadership is to continue, . . . we must commit the resources needed to meet our fair share of obligations and responsibility.”

Cohen, 56, has spent much of his 24 years in Congress working on defense issues, including recent service as a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees. A lawyer and writer of poetry and novels, Cohen irritated some party colleagues by voting to impeach President Nixon in 1974 and denouncing President Reagan’s conduct during the Iran-Contra scandal.

He has not hesitated to attack Clinton’s foreign policy, assailing the administration for its shifting Bosnia policy and contending that the president has not been forceful enough in trying to curb Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Yet Cohen told reporters at the White House on Thursday that “my entire congressional career has been devoted to pursuing a national security policy that is without partisanship. And so the scenario that the president has presented to me was one that I could look forward with great enthusiasm to supporting.”

Clinton, speaking with reporters, said he had no fear that Cohen would strike out on his own. “We go out of our way to follow a process that encourages people to be independent,” he said.

One administration official contended that the selection of a Republican to head the Defense Department would make it easier for the administration to resist GOP demands for new spending on weapons. “This will help in saying no,” the official said.

At the same time, the official said Cohen would get close scrutiny both from Democrats who view him as an outsider and from conservative Republicans who do not consider him one of them.

Officials predicted that despite Albright’s sometimes abrasive expressions and Cohen’s independent habits, there would be none of the turf warfare that sometimes has broken out between national security agencies.

One official forecast, however, that there may be some points of friction between Albright and Lake, who has had policy differences with her, and between the newly elevated Berger and his former boss.

Helmut Sonnenfeldt, a top foreign policy aide in earlier administrations, predicted that Albright would need to attend to some fence-mending with foreign diplomats who have sometimes found her imperious. And she would need to show “some new collegiality” with State Department officials to prove she is eager to work side by side with them, he said.

Lake, 57, would be President Clinton’s third CIA director. If he is confirmed by the Senate, he will find himself attempting to run an agency that appears to doubt Clinton’s commitment to the U.S. intelligence community. His own interest in intelligence matters, however, is not in doubt. He would be likely to face his toughest problems in dealing with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, its espionage arm, which has spawned the agency’s greatest controversies.

Berger, 51, is considered to be a consensus-builder and a pragmatist who gets the best out of his subordinates. He is given high marks by associates for behind-the-scenes work that has helped keep the administration focused on its foreign policy goals.

Strobe Talbott, deputy secretary of state and an old friend of Clinton’s, will stay in his job. But the shuffle will leave John M. Deutch, now director of central intelligence, unemployed. He is expected to return to academia.

In recent weeks, Clinton has seemed poised to choose others for secretary of state, notably former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell.

But Mitchell’s star seemed to fall after women’s groups reacted with outrage to news reports that indicated Albright had become a secondary candidate.

Also working against Mitchell, a Maine Democrat, was the administration’s dawning awareness that congressional Republicans had bitter memories of his partisanship as majority leader. Aides discovered that many Democrats also lacked enthusiasm for his appointment.

Clinton denied that Albright was chosen because of her gender. “That is not why I appointed her,” Clinton said. Still, he exulted, his deceased mother, Virginia Kelley “is smiling down at me right now.”

White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta said First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton did not participate in the formal discussion of nominations, which involved Vice President Al Gore, and Deputy Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles. But Panetta added: “What discussions took place in the [White House] residence, I don’t know.”

Officials said Clinton made decisions on the nominees during a White House reception for members of Congress on Wednesday. He notified aides after 9 p.m. EST. On Thursday morning, he called Albright and Cohen, then phoned several runners-up, including Mitchell, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and retiring Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.).

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Picking a New Team

SECRETARY OF STATE

Madeleine Albright, U.N. envoy would be first woman to hold the nation’s senior diplomatic post

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

William S. Cohen, retiring senator is a moderate Republican with a reputation for independence

CIA DIRECTOR

Anthony Lake, reserved New Englander avoided spotlight as Clinton national security advisor

NATIONAL SECURITY

Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger, Lake’s deputy won Clinton’s respect for his consensus-building skills

POSTS STILL OPEN

* Commerce

* Transportation

* Energy

* HUD

* Labor