Presidency of George W. Bush - Administration and Cabinet

Administration and Cabinet

Bush's Cabinet had included figures that were prominent in past administrations, notably former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had served as United States National Security Advisor under Ronald Reagan. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had served as White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford; Rumsfeld's successor, Robert Gates, served as Director of Central Intelligence under George H.W. Bush. Vice President Dick Cheney served as Secretary of Defense under George H. W. Bush.

Bush placed a high value on personal loyalty and, as a result, his administration had high message discipline. He maintained a "hands-off" style of management. "I'm confident in my management style. I'm a delegator because I trust the people I've asked to join the team. I'm willing to delegate. That makes it easier to be President," he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC in December 2003. Critics alleged, however, that Bush was willing to overlook mistakes made by loyal subordinates.

The Bush Cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	George W. Bush	2001–2009
Vice President	Dick Cheney	2001–2009
Secretary of State	Colin Powell	2001–2005
	Condoleezza Rice	2005–2009
Secretary of Treasury	Paul O'Neill	2001–2002
	John Snow	2003–2006
	Henry Paulson	2006–2009
Secretary of Defense	Donald Rumsfeld	2001–2006
	Robert Gates	2006–2009
Attorney General	John Ashcroft	2001–2005
	Alberto Gonzales	2005–2007
	Michael Mukasey	2007–2009
Secretary of the Interior	Gale Norton	2001–2006
	Dirk Kempthorne	2006–2009
Secretary of Agriculture	Ann Veneman	2001–2005
	Mike Johanns	2005–2007
	Ed Schafer	2008–2009
Secretary of Commerce	Donald Evans	2001–2005
	Carlos Gutierrez	2005–2009
Secretary of Labor	Elaine Chao	2001–2009
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Tommy Thompson	2001–2005
	Mike Leavitt	2005–2009
Secretary of Education	Rod Paige	2001–2005
	Margaret Spellings	2005–2009
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Mel Martinez	2001–2003
	Alphonso Jackson	2003–2008
	Steve Preston	2008–2009
Secretary of Transportation	Norman Mineta	2001–2006
	Mary Peters	2006–2009
Secretary of Energy	Spencer Abraham	2001–2005
	Samuel Bodman	2005–2009
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Anthony Principi	2001–2005
	Jim Nicholson	2005–2007
	James Peake	2007–2009
Secretary of Homeland Security	Tom Ridge	2003–2005
	Michael Chertoff	2005–2009
Chief of Staff	Andrew Card	2001–2006
	Joshua Bolten	2006–2009
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Christine Todd Whitman	2001–2003
	Mike Leavitt	2003–2005
	Stephen L. Johnson	2005–2009
Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Mitch Daniels	2001–2003
	Joshua Bolten	2003–2006
	Rob Portman	2006–2007
	Jim Nussle	2007–2009
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy	John P. Walters	2001–2009
United States Trade Representative	Robert Zoellick	2001–2005
	Rob Portman	2005–2006
	Susan Schwab	2006–2009

There was only one non-Republican in Bush's cabinet: Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, the first Asian American cabinet secretary, who had previously served as Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton, is a Democrat. Mineta resigned from Bush's cabinet on July 7, 2006 to pursue "other challenges". Mary Peters, a Republican, was nominated and confirmed to succeed him as Transportation Secretary. At least one other non-Republican was apparently offered a position in the administration but declined. CNN reported that in the transition to his second term, Bush offered the positions of Ambassador to the United Nations and subsequently Secretary of Homeland Security to Senatar Joe Lieberman, then a Democrat and currently an Independent Democrat.

In 2006, Bush replaced long-time chief of staff Andrew Card with Joshua Bolten and made major staff and cabinet changes with the intention of revitalizing his Administration.

On November 8, 2006 (the day after the Democrats took back Congress in the midterm elections), Bush announced plans to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with former CIA Director Robert Gates. Gates was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 6 and took office as the 22nd Secretary of Defense on December 18.