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Traditionally, the State Department assigned such tasks to strong Under Secretaries, but Christopher does not have them. Peter Tarnoff, the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, fell under a dark cloud last May when he suggested the U.S. was too poor to support an activist policy abroad. More recently, according to two well-placed officials, Clinton suggested that Christopher consider firing him, out of concern that he was not properly overseeing the State Department's regional bureaus. But the Secretary, an old and close friend of Tarnoff's, resisted, according to the sources, arguing that he should be reassessed after a new Deputy Secretary relieved Tarnoff of some of his work load. Christopher flatly denies that Clinton asked him to fire Tarnoff. Nevertheless, many officials charge Tarnoff has been "Peter- principled" above his skills.
| Christopher must now select a new No. 2 who can run the department while he's away. The Secretary will be traveling a great deal in the coming months, says a senior aide, "so he needs someone here who can manage the other big issues, who can really serve as alter ego." One candidate is Thomas Pickering, now the ambassador to Russia, who has an excellent reputation for getting things done, albeit by leaving a lot of smashed crockery in his wake.
When the Clinton team members arrived in Washington they vowed they would avoid the interdepartmental warfare that marred the Carter Administration, in which most of them served. They have succeeded up to now, but the good manners are beginning to fray slightly. State Department officials believe their boss is slammed for things that should be blamed on the Pentagon or the National Security Council NSC. Christopher tells his aides not to finger-point, but last week one of them confided, "He has taken criticism for a number of things he didn't take the lead on. You know, he doesn't conduct military operations."
That finger is aimed at Defense Secretary Aspin, whose appearance with Christopher before congressional leaders last month to explain the heavy U.S. casualties in Mogadishu was a particular disaster. Aspin, pushed by the White House into meeting the legislators before Clinton had made key policy decisions on Somalia, understandably stumbled. Moreover, he dismayed lawmakers eager for answers by asking for their advice. He thought he was "consulting," but some of those present considered it their worst meeting ever with an Administration witness.
A member of Congress for 22 years, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee for eight, Aspin owes some of his problems to lack of bureaucratic prowess -- a necessary skill in running the Pentagon. He is a frenetic man in motion, physically and mentally. He is not helped by some of the worst tailoring in Washington; only recently have aides persuaded him to stop wearing his baggy light tan suits to military ceremonies. "Les is always searching for a new idea," says one of his aides. Yes, says Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, but "his folksy style sometimes just doesn't square with the requirements of the office."