Many American experts believe that US Secretary of State Colin Powell will not be reappointed if George Bush wins the upcoming elections.  Powell, who prefers to discuss issues from various angles and seek compromises, is said to have fallen victim to the more aggressive members of the US administration, who have significant influence over the President's decisions.  However, no one expects the Secretary of State to leave before the beginning of Bush’s second term -- this is one of America’s political traditions: Highly placed officials prefer to wait until after the elections, so that their departure seems more natural.

Otherwise, the reputation of the official may suffer, which could decrease his chances of getting a prominent position in the future.  For example, four key officials from the Clinton administration -- Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Trade Mickey Kantor and Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary waited until the end of Bill Clinton’s first term to resign.

There are many reasons for Cabinet members to leave office.  Most often, they discover that they are in ideological opposition to the President or the rest of the Administration.  The latest example of this concerned Secretary of Trade Paul O’Neill.  Bush dismissed him a year ago because of differences in their positions on tax policy.  A year after leaving office O’Neill declared that Bush’s economic policy is bringing the US to a financial catastrophe and that the Bush Administration planned to attack Iraq long before the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001.

Often, former administration members become presidents of major corporations, earning more money than the nation’s highest officials.  For example John Fouler, who was Secretary of Finance under President Lyndon Johnson left, as he declared, “to do real business.”  His departure was unexpected, since he was considered a very successful Secretary and one of the founders of the modern international financial system.  Mel Martinez, the Secretary of Housing Construction and Urban Development under Bush, resigned in December 2003 to participate in senatorial elections.  Sometimes officials simply get bored.  Hazel O’Leary, the first woman to become Secretary of Energy in the US, was well known for her love of traveling and her extravagant lifestyle.  She could not put up with the drudgery of day-to-day official work.

Perhaps the oddest resignation in US history took place in 1828, under President Andrew Jackson.  Washington was shocked by the fact that the wife of the Secretary of Defense often cheated on him.  The wives of other Secretaries and the Secretaries themselves refused to be in the same room with the adulteress.  Jackson was angry and demanded that the Secretaries apologize to her and call their wives to order.  The conflict dragged on for a year.  During the entire time, Jackson refused to meet with his Cabinet.  Instead, he established an informal administration the members of which did not have official titles and met for dinner at the White House kitchen.  This organization became known in US history as the “Kitchen Cabinet.”  A year later, the “official” ministers officially refused to apologize to the woman and Jackson fired all of them.  Most likely, Jackson had personal reasons for this move.  His own wife, a deeply religious woman could not stand the intense criticism concerning her husband and herself during the election campaign and died of a heart attack several weeks after Jackson became President.  Additionally, there was tension between Jackson a number of the Administration members.  However, Jackson was lucky -- the American public was behind him.

Forty years later, in 1868, President Andrew Johnson was in a different situation after he fired his Secretary of Defense, Edwin Stanton.  Stanton and Jackson disagreed on the economic program of the Reconstruction, and after the President dismissed Stanton, the Congress demanded his impeachment, since, according to the legislation effective at the time, the Congress had to approve the dismissals of officials of the highest rank.  In the Senate vote, Jackson barely escaped impeachment.

In 1841, President John Taylor put down a rebellion in his Cabinet with an iron fist.  Taylor headed the US after the elected president, William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia a month after moving to the White House.  Taylor’s policy significantly differed from that of his predecessor and he immediately made it clear to the Secretaries of the Cabinet he inherited that, if they did not agree, they should feel free to leave.  Within six months, five out of six Cabinet members resigned.  In the three remaining years of Taylor’s term, 22 Secretaries had held the six positions.  (VG)