Cabinet Selection

In his 2008 campaign for president, Democrat Barack Obama made no secret of his admiration for President Lincoln and his so-called “team of rivals” approach to government. Obama campaigned on a pledge to make his cabinet bipartisan — even “post-partisan” — with an eye toward finding middle ground between political factions. Eventually, President Obama took office with Democratic primary rivals Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton as his Vice President and Secretary of State, respectively, and Republican Rep. Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation. And despite being a vocal critic of how the war in Iraq was being run by his Republican predecessors, Obama asked President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, to stay in the job, to maintain continuity in the authority of American forces.