The Brains Trust

The most important thing to be said about President-elect Barack Obama's appointments thus far does not concern left, right, center, liberal, conservative, or moderate. Rather, Obama has gone for brainpower.

The Economist ran a nice little comparison, for instance, between the current and future economic teams. Three of Obama's four appointments are "well-regarded PhD-holding economists and the fourth, Tim Geithner, the new Treasury Secretary, is a respected central banker (he heads the Federal Reserve Bank of New York). Only one of the four people they will replace shares a comparable background." Obama's projected head of the Office of Management and Budget, for instance, previously headed the Congressional Budget Office and is a respected academic. Bush has had four OMB heads: a pharmaceuticals executive, a lobbyist, and two congressmen. The national security team Obama unveiled yesterday was equally impressive.

So, there are two models for this sort of thing. The first was FDR's Brains Trust, which worked out rather well, despite considerable controversy along the way. The second was JFK's best and brightest. They helped to give us Vietnam. As a scholar, I like brains. And the last eight years have demonstrated the futility of stupidity. But even big brains need judgment, as the negative examples of McGeorge Bundy and Robert McNamara reveal.  Let's hope Obama's people possess some prudence. 

Comments

[Ron Greene]

Hi Murphy,

I like brains, too. But worry that counterinsurgency plus softpower nation building in Afghanistan sounds a bit too much like Johnson's hopkins speech (War plus development). With Pakistan playing the role of cambodia. But, I do look forward to the inaugural