Litmus Tests Quotes
It is not only in modern times that there were “litmus tests” for appointees. Franklin Pierce had been elected as a Democrat with a coalition that included Southerners who were able to dominate the weak Pierce precluding abolitionists from any appointments.
Most recent American Presidents have appointed their most senior officials who were of their own political party although FDR, Dwight Eisenhower and Barack Obama appointed members of the opposition party to several important posts. However, in the Soviet Union, the senior officials would appoint no one to even a minor post who they did not perceive was politically reliable—was a dedicated communist and supported the views and programs of the Russian Communist Party leadership. However, rarely in America has there been any criteria of political or ideological doctrine in the hiring of staff. The George W, Bush Administration was a dramatic exception. Being a loyal Republican was totally insufficient. New officials had to be politically and philosophically consonant with the very conservative wing of the Republican party. This was bad enough but by following the same approach as the Russians and other ideological countries, the Bush administration had many of the same problems. One dramatic one was the hiring of people with no professional experience or qualifications but were ideologically perfect and totally loyal. One very dramatic example was the man appointed to head the Federal Emergency Management Administration. His experience consisted of managing horse shows and he had never had anything to do with natural disasters or any other kinds of emergencies nor did he have any experience with first responders. Another is the man appointed to set up the Stock Exchange for Iraq after we occupied that country and were involved in nation building. The appointee’s only job experience had been as a White House intern and not only knew nothing about Stock Exchanges or Economics, but had no business experience as he never held any other job. There were many such examples. No other administration in modern times—Democratic or Republican—went to such lengths as the Soviets to maintain ideological purity.
See Abraham Lincoln for a similar view.
Referring to the process of appointing a Supreme Court Justice:. This quotation most often appears without the critical last sentence.
After the United States Military victory at the Beginning of the Iraq War, the Bush administration operated under the neoconservative view that the Iraqis wanted a democracy and freedom and saw the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq as an opportunity to apply extreme conservative principles in the construction of a modern democracy in the Middle East. Bush appointed one of his political supporters and conservative ideologue as the head of the occupation authority and almost all of the many positions to rebuild Iraq was filled with conservative ideologues almost all of whom had no previous practical experience in the area of their new responsibility, and had not diplomatic skills or experience in Iraq, the Middle East. Almost none spoke Arabic or knew anything about Islamic culture. The occupation was a disaster, and the deadly phase of the Iraq war broke out.
Jefferson claimed that a President should only ask three questions about a potential appointee.
