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Exclusive: Flournoy Drops Out of Race to Be Next Secretary of Defense

Michèle Flournoy, the most widely rumored candidate to replace Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense, has taken herself out of the running for the job, according to sources familiar with the situation. The decision complicates what will be one of the most important personnel decisions of President Barack Obama’s second term. Flournoy, the…

Michèle Flournoy, the most widely rumored candidate to replace Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense, has taken herself out of the running for the job, according to sources familiar with the situation. The decision complicates what will be one of the most important personnel decisions of President Barack Obama’s second term.

Flournoy, the co-founder and CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a think tank that has served as a farm league for future Obama administration officials, would have been the first female secretary of defense had she risen to the position.

via Exclusive: Flournoy Drops Out of Race to Be Next Secretary of Defense.

DoD needs some real talent and a steady hand at the tiller for the next couple years. But it’s unlikely to get that.

Why would anyone want to serve as SecDef for the rump of a failed presidency, particularly when any real authority remains in the hands of Valerie Jarrett and Susan Rice?

Anybody taking odds on how long before Ash Carter says “thanks, but no thanks?”

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  1. Quartermaster

    All of FedGov needs talent and a steady hand over the next two years, not mention the last 6. It didn’t get over the last 6, and it won’t get in the next 2.

    No, I don’t consider Gates as having talent. He turned out to be a political harlot, a type I have no use for.

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  2. Esli

    Not sure if you read Gates’ book, but I gained a certain measure of respect for him after having read it. Worth the time if you haven’t read it.

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  3. Tarl

    Flournoy told the board members that family health considerations helped drive her decision and the fact that two of her children are leaving for college in the next two years.

    “No, mein Fuhrer, I do not want Paulus’s job. Yes, I know it comes with a Field Marshal’s baton. My family has health issues, and the kids will be in college soon.”

    Carter, while respected for his intellect and management skills, was at times acerbic and condescending….

    LMAO, I bet we have neeeeeeever had a SecDef like that before. Automatic disqualification!

    with his tenure at the Navy focused largely on cost-cutting, Mabus would not bring the expertise in counterterrorism and war-fighting that Obama might want in the man or woman charged with heading the fight against the Islamic State.

    So the Navy hasn’t been involved in counterterrorism or warfighting since 2009?

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