This Kind Of White House Turnover Is NOT Normal

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 09: A view of the State Department seal on the podium before Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appear for a photo opportunity at the State Department, June 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. Iohannis is also scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Rex Tillerson met with the press this afternoon and announced he would be on the job until the end of March.

Let’s not normalize this.  The turnover in the White House is far from normal. Just last week White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said: “This is an intense place, as is every White House and it’s not abnormal to have people come and go.” But in the case of Secretary of State, we can say without a doubt that is simply NOT true.

The Secretary of State is the most important cabinet position. He or she is fourth in the line of succession to the president. It is NOT a position for short-timers.

Take the last few administrations. All the Secretary of States stayed for four years, basically one full Presidential term.

-Barack Obama had Hillary Clinton and John Kerry

-George W. Bush had Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice

-Bill Clinton had Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright

https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/973596366931980288

One reason it’s a long-term job is that the Secretary of State needs to cultivate relationships around the world and be the face of the American government.  For instance, Rex Tillerson spent the last week in Africa trying to repair relationships after Trump’s “shithole” comments. He was the most Senior US official to visit Africa since Trump took office.  But foreign ministers didn’t know if what Tillerson was saying was the position of Donald Trump.  In the end, it was one of the many factors that led to his ouster.