President-elect George W. Bush has completed his Cabinet nominations. He has assembled a diverse group that has ample experience in Washington and in dealing with the bureaucracy. They are competent, capable and conservative. Taken as a whole, however, the group raises questions about Mr. Bush's claim to want to bring a new spirit to Washington, as well as about the promise in his victory speech to reach out to all Americans, including those who did not vote for him.
With little fanfare, Mr. Bush has created a rainbow Cabinet. Remarkably for a Republican administration, it has a minority of white men (six). There are two black men, three white women, one Asian-American man, one Arab-American man and a Hispanic man and woman. There are governors, former legislators, corporate heads and veterans of previous administrations. Fulfilling Mr. Bush's pledge to be bipartisan, there is a Democrat -- Mr. Norman Mineta, the former California congressman who currently serves as secretary of commerce and is the first person to go from one administration directly into the next, despite the change in parties.
The group is rich in experience in Washington. Secretary of defense-designate Donald Rumsfeld held that position in the administration of President Gerald Ford in the 1970s. Vice President-elect Dick Cheney was chief of staff in the same administration and headed the Pentagon during the Persian Gulf War. Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Mineta, the nominee for transportation secretary, is currently commerce secretary and focused on transport issues during his term in Congress. Ms. Linda Chavez, labor secretary-designate, Ms. Gale Norton, interior secretary-designate, Ms. Ann Veneman, agriculture secretary-designate, and Mr. Paul O'Neill, the treasury secretary-designate, have all had stints in the executive branch.