Oklahoma Gov. Keating Tops List of Successors

Speculation ran high Tuesday on who would replace Louis J. Freeh as FBI director, one of the most prestigious posts in government and one that carries a 10-year term to shield it from political pressures.

Though names of a possible successor to Freeh began to surface immediately, the search for a replacement was in a very preliminary stage, given the suddenness of Freeh’s decision to leave the job.

With a background in law or law enforcement considered a prerequisite, a prominent name being mentioned was that of Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, a former FBI agent who served in top law enforcement positions at both the Treasury and Justice departments during the Ronald Reagan administration.

Keating, who will complete his second term as governor in January 2003, was once considered a likely running mate for President Bush during last year’s campaign and later was a leading candidate for attorney general.

Others believed to be on the short list for FBI director are:

* Robert Mueller, now acting deputy attorney general, who headed the Justice Department’s criminal division in the Reagan administration and later was a federal prosecutor in San Francisco.

* Ronald K. Noble, secretary-general of Interpol, the international crime-fighting organization based in Lyon, France. He formerly held top Treasury and Justice department positions in the Reagan and George Bush administrations.

* George Terwilliger, a deputy attorney general in the last Bush administration who now practices law in Washington and served on George W. Bush’s legal team last year during the Florida voting dispute.

* Marc Racicot, a close friend of Bush and former Republican governor of Montana who also worked on Bush’s legal team in Florida. He had been a top contender for attorney general until he removed himself from consideration late last year.

* Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan who, although appointed by former President Clinton, has told friends she would like to remain in the Bush administration. White is leading a criminal investigation into Clinton’s controversial pardon of fugitive commodities broker Marc Rich, which Clinton granted at the end of his presidency.

* Ray Kelly, a former New York police commissioner who served as the Treasury Department’s enforcement chief in the Clinton administration and later as customs commissioner.

* Oliver “Buck” Revell, retired associate FBI director who specialized in counter-terrorism and now heads an international security firm in Dallas.