Former N.J. Gov. Kean Takes Over 9/11 Probe

President Bush on Monday appointed former New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean to replace former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger as chairman of a federal commission charged with investigating events that led to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America.

“Tom Kean is a leader respected for integrity, fairness and good judgment. I am confident he will work to make the commission’s investigation thorough,” Bush said. “It is important that we uncover every detail and learn every lesson of Sept. 11.”

Later in the day, Trent Lott, the incoming Senate majority leader, named former Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr. to the commission. Lehman’s appointment completes the 10-member bipartisan commission.

Kean, 67, said he will retain his job as president of Drew University, a small liberal arts university in Madison, N.J., about 30 miles from the site of the former World Trade Center.

“I’m not a Washingtonian. I haven’t even run for elected office in over 15 years,” Kean said at a news conference at Drew. He said he will serve as “a friend to a lot of people who lost their lives.”

Kean has little experience with defense affairs or intelligence issues, but as a public servant, Kean (pronounced Cane) established a record of bipartisan cooperation. He served on presidential commissions in Democratic as well as Republican administrations.

“As long as [Kean] is independent, and looks into the agencies that failed us that day, then we look forward to starting this commission,” said Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center. “We’ve waited a long time,” Kleinberg told Associated Press.

One former Cabinet officer in Kean’s second gubernatorial administration predicted that the former governor will ably fulfill his mission.

“He’s a consensus builder, somebody who’s credible and is trusted by all sides,” said Drew Altman, who served as Kean’s commissioner of human services.

Bush announced Kean’s appointment just three days after Kissinger abruptly withdrew as commission chairman amid charges of conflicts of interest. Kissinger said he did not want to liquidate his lucrative international consulting firm or disclose his far-flung international clients.

Kissinger’s withdrawal followed by just two days the departure of former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Maine), who said he could not afford to sever his ties with his Washington law firm.

In Mitchell’s place, congressional Democratic leaders named former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), now head of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars here.

The commission was created last month by Congress to investigate the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The other Democratic commissioners are former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, retiring Rep. Tim Roemer of Indiana, Richard Ben-Veniste, a Washington lawyer and longtime Democratic investigator; and Jamie Gorelick, vice chairman of Fannie Mae, who served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration.

The other Republican commissioners are former Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington, former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson and Washington attorney Fred Fielding, who was a deputy counsel in the Nixon White House.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), an advocate for 9/11 families, praised the appointment of Lehman to the commission, saying he “will aggressively pursue the truth to wherever it may lead so we may help avoid future terrorist attacks on our nation.”

Lehman is chairman of J.F. Lehman & Co., and of OAOT Technology Solutions. He also serves as director of the Ball Corp., Insurance Services Office, SDI Inc., Elgar Inc. and Racal Instruments Inc., according to Associated Press.

Kean served two four-year terms as New Jersey’s governor, starting in 1981.

He is on several corporate boards, including the Pepsi Bottling Group and Aramark Corp., which manages food and support services at office buildings and sports facilities.

Aramark operated a food court and other concessions in the World Trade Center and lost about 80 employees in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Kean also has served on the advisory board of President Clinton’s initiative on race, and as vice chairman of the U.S. delegation to the fourth U.N. World Conference on Women in 1995. He led the U.S. delegation to the World Conference on Education for All in Thailand in 1990.

“The strengths that Gov. Kean brings to this commission, in the president’s judgment, are, one, his ability, and over time, his history of bringing people together on particularly difficult issues.” Fleischer said.

A Princeton graduate with a history degree, Kean comes from a line of public servants. His grandfather was a United States senator and his father was a congressman.

Kean taught history at a Massachusetts prep school before entering politics and serving several terms in the New Jersey Legislature, including as Assembly speaker.

As an officeholder, Kean steadfastly preached a message of diversity and authored a book titled “The Politics of Inclusion.”

In his reelection campaign, Kean won 60% of the black vote and two-thirds of union households.

In 1992, he chaired the New Jersey reelection campaign for George H. W. Bush, the current president’s father.

Last year, Kean rebuffed calls by the Republican Party to run against incumbent Robert Torricelli, a Democrat, who was embroiled in a Senate ethics investigation. Torricelli withdrew from the race shortly before last month’s election.