Feats of Clay
Posted: Monday, August 27, 2007 11:00 PM by Countdown
According to published reports today, President Bush is considering nominating Clay Johnson to replace Michael Chertoff as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Mr. Johnson has no experience in law enforcement, the law, the military, counter-terrorism or intelligence. His current job involves oversight of management throughout the executive branch. Prior to that, he served during the Bush/Cheney transition by helping Mr. Bush to staff thousands of federal positions.
He served much the same role when Mr. Bush became governor, and then served as Mr. Bush's chief of staff. You can read his official government bio here.
Mr. Johnson does not appear to have any blemishes of ethics or competence on his public record. (That line was written before we stumbled upon this.) Privately, he has worked as an executive in the mail-order catalogue business, as well as for Pepsico. Specifically, Frito-Lay, a maker of fine snack chips.
To his credit, Frito-Lay has suffered not a single attack by al Qaeda.
His relationship with Mr. Bush is almost unique in Washington. The two men have been friends since they were 15 and met at Andover.
He recalls discussing Vietnam with Mr. Bush. Not the morality of it. That was "almost moot," he told the Associated Press. Their concern was getting out of the draft.
More to come, we suspect. Post your own links on Mr. Johnson's golden oldies. His role as personnel chief for Bush over the years could yield some interesting connections.
