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AP-2:45pm- In another White House shake up, President Barack Obama on Friday announced that his national security adviser, Gen. James Jones, was stepping down after helping to shape the foreign policy for nearly two years. Tom Donilon, Jones' deputy, will take over as the top security adviser.
Obama hailed Jones, a lifelong military man before his White House post, as a "dedicated public servant and a friend to me." The president turned over the job to Donilon, a workhorse figure in the White House who brings to the job a long background of Democratic politics and diplomacy.
Jones’ resignation had been rumored for months, amid reports he struggled to fit in with the Obama team from the start of the administration.
He reportedly had friction with Donilon and with the president’s closest advisers – including senior advisor David Axelrod, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has told associates that Donilon’s appointment to NSA would be a disaster, according to journalist Bob Woodard's recently published book, “Obama’s Wars.”
Administration officials, speaking over the last month, have said that Donilon’s ascent could lead Gates, a Republican holdover from the Bush administration who has developed a good rapport with Obama, to make an early exit from the Pentagon. Donilon, Woodward reported, was deeply skeptical of the military’s chain of command – and the feeling was mutual, with many commanders viewing Donilon as a politically-connected dilettante who was in over his head.
According to Woodward, Jones clashed with members of Obama’s inner circle – whom he derisively nicknamed ”waterbugs” – and complained about limited access to the president. Emanuel, Woodward wrote, was especially close to Donilon, and would walk past Jones’ office to relay Oval Office requests directly to Donilon, irritating Jones to the point he personally confronted Emanuel.
Jones also seemed skeptical of Donilon last year, advising him to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan – something his deputy hadn’t done before – while telling him to tone down his opinions of military leaders and NSC staffers.
Jones resigns as NSC chief, Donilon next director - Yahoo! News
It looks like Obama is going for a thorough shakeup of his staff.
But no matter how bad things get, Rouse and Obama have no plans to break up the small group of campaign veterans who surround the president — nor are they likely to bring in the outsiders many Democrats think the White House sorely needs.
“It’s kind of a tight team over there, to state the obvious,” says Pennsylvania Gov. [and clintonista] Edward Rendell, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, in a recent interview with POLITICO. “Sometimes it’s hard to find a point of contact — or even know who to call over there.”
Nor does Obama intend to change the West Wing’s underlying management dynamic — an autodidact president who talks to many people but listens to a handful of insiders with vague, sweeping portfolios who pad in and out of the Oval Office.
“Nothing has changed,” says a person familiar with Obama’s thinking. “It’s not that he’s uncomfortable with outside people, it’s that he wants the people he’s most comfortable with right next to him.”
Isn't it pretty typical after a few years for any president?
Isn't it pretty typical after a few years for any president?
Jones resigns as NSC chief, Donilon next director - Yahoo! News
It looks like Obama is going for a thorough shakeup of his staff.
First they complain he's surrounded himself with radicals, then they complain when he dumps them...
"The move, though expected, is the latest high-profile departure among Mr. Obama's leadership team.....
Jones, who retired from active duty in February 2007 after more than 40 years of uniformed service, had planned all along to leave the national security adviser's post within two years, said one official...."
Obama Adviser Gen. James Jones Resigning - CBS News
Jones resigns as NSC chief, Donilon next director - Yahoo! News
It looks like Obama is going for a thorough shakeup of his staff.
Yep, all the rats are jumping ship aren't they?......lol.
j-mac
Looks more like they're bailing, because they don't want to be associated with Obama's mess. General Jones was the only member of his staff that gave Obama any real credibility and now that's gone.
Obama has been a failure and nothing he has done has been good for America or worked other than to destroy the economy as his plan has been from the start.
Obama is going down as a failed one term idiot and he will be deserted by many more as the the end of his popularity grows.
Only fools still believe in this amateur at everything.
The thing that concerns me is the reduced input from the senior military folks in his NSC meetings. It is worrisome that his advisors are becoming ideologically contracted. He isn't listening to outside voices.
Yes, I was glad to see Summers go, too. I wouldn't mind seeing Geitner go as well, but then he would just be replaced by someone else who had worked for Goldman Sachs, so what would be the point?True that, Moot, and SecDef Gates has already stayed longer than he wanted to, as well. Summers had to leave so as not to lose out on his Harvard retirement monies...Summers is the one I'm glad to see go.
Regards from Rosie
He was never accepting any input from his senior military folks, anyway. Jones' regination isn't going to change anything.
Jones resigns as NSC chief, Donilon next director - Yahoo! News
It looks like Obama is going for a thorough shakeup of his staff.
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