For Americans

RE: For Americans

the NSA has an office in the white house and therefore the president’s ear

the sec def and sec stae don’t

rabie :9

RE: For Americans

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 18-11-02 AT 07:54 PM (GMT)]Actually I meant the NSA is often equivalent to Sec State, more so than Defence.

The National Security Advisor is frequently in conflict with other relevant cabinet offices. Not only that, the NSA may disagree with the recommendations of the intelligence services and thus be in conflict with them as well. The best example is Henry Kissinger, who as NSA, compeletly overshadowed the cabinet secretaries and even made Presidential level decisions when President Nixon wasn’t available. A recent example would be when the CIA director told Congress the CIA never catagorized Iraq as a terrorist threat even though Bush said intelligence sources tell him it is.

As Mongu stated, US cabinet secretaries are nominated by the President, but they still need to be approved by the Senate. Which means the President may have a favorite advisor whose political beliefs are not appreciated by the opposition party and could never be Sec State/Defense. The NSA is someone on the White House payroll, but not subject to Congressional reviews. The NSA is also easier to replace without political concequences. None-the-less, the NSA is the person whose preception of the world is most compatible with the President and is someone with a long personal friendship. Therefore, though the NSA has no offical authority, s/he usually have the ears of the President.

RE: For Americans

>>Donald Rumsfeld: Secretary of Defense
>
>Condoleezza Rice: National Security Advisor (Advisor to the
>President on national security issues. The position has
>little offical power, but in practice wields similar
>influence as Secretary of Defense.)

Well, as I expected. Are there any conflictive fields in this two posts?. Thanls to have clarified it.

RE: For Americans

The one different I would point out between the US and Europe is that in the US, cabinet ministers are people hand picked, usually by the President.

In most of Europe (certainly in the UK) they are elected politicians. The prime minister does pick the ministers, but only from within the ranks of his own party members who have been elected to represent a community or constituency.

Ergo, US ministers are usually either experts in their field or friends of the President or at least someone in a high place. European ministers are career politicians. They frequently change roles. For instance in the UK, David Blunkett (the blind one) changed from being Education Secretary to being Home (interior) Secretary.

RE: For Americans

The VP is kind of like an XO (second in command to a Naval Captain on a ship) The VP gets all the boring administrative paperwork/tasks and things like that which require a presidents level signature/decision. This includes a lot of “official” presidential dutys like: The Presidents Commission on Agriculture, Education and a whole bunch of other boring plans/programs and events that you never hear about unless it is a really boring news day.

RE: For Americans

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 18-11-02 AT 01:54 AM (GMT)]George W. Bush: President (He is both head of State and head of Government. Like your King and President combined)

Richard (hmmm can’t type D*ck) Cheney: Vice President (Historically a nearly powerless position, though this is begining to change)

Colin Powell: Secretary of State (Like a Foreign Minister)

Donald Rumsfeld: Secretary of Defense

Condoleezza Rice: National Security Advisor (Advisor to the President on national security issues. The position has little offical power, but in practice wields similar influence as Secretary of Defense.)