Cabinet Apprentice Disgraced Ex-General David Petraeus Auditions for Trump
Now on the shortlist for secretary of state, Petraeus pitches himself as the even-keeled strategist the Trump administration desperately needs.
by TINA NGUYEN
December 4, 2016 1:10 pm
By Spencer Platt/Getty Images.
The stakes surrounding Donald Trump’s selection for secretary of state couldn’t be higher. Over the past week alone, the president-elect has reportedly unsettled India by promising to visit Pakistan, invited Philippine strongman Rodrigo Duterte to visit the White House, and, most recently, thrown the foreign policy establishment into a panic over his decision to speak on the phone with President Tsai Ying-wen of Taiwan, upending decades of carefully calibrated diplomatic relations with China. While the Chinese seethed over the breach of protocol—the United States has formally acknowledged the “One China” policy since 1979—Trump on Friday took to Twitter to give his own, completely uninformed view of Chinese relations and wondering aloud why “the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.” (The sales, of course, are predicated on the U.S. treating Taiwan as part of China.)
With Trump’s inner circle deadlocked over the respective merits of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney for the daunting task of checking Trump’s freewheeling approach to foreign policy, the shortlist for secretary of state continues to grow. (“It is true that he’s broadened the search,” Kellyanne Conway, who has campaigned against Romney, confirmed Sunday.) The latest candidate to step into the chaotic public audition process for the role is disgraced former general David Petraeus, who took to ABC News on Sunday morning to make his own case for why he should lead the State Department, despite having been indicted for mishandling classified information—the same accusation that was leveled at Hillary Clinton, although she, unlike Petraeus, was never charged.
“Five years ago, I made a serious mistake. I acknowledged it. I apologized for it. I paid a very heavy price for it and I've learned from it,” Petraeus told “This Week” host George Stephanopulous, adding that he hoped Congress would also factor in his four decades of military and business experience.
In his discussions on Mexico, Russia, and the Iran nuclear deal, Petraeus presented himself as a candidate who could both balance Trump’s vague promises and crystallize them in America’s long-term global interests. “In our conversation what I enjoyed most frankly was the discussion of issues, or say campaign rhetoric, if you will, and then placing that in a strategic context,” said Petraeus, who, before destroying his career by having an affair with his biographer and mistress, had fostered a reputation as a military mastermind. Trump’s infamous border wall, for instance, would in fact be “an element in a comprehensive effort to shore up our security on the southern border,” Petraeus said, explaining how it would also help Mexico with its own problems with crime. He also indicated that he would be willing to break with Trump on issues like comprehensive immigration reform, which he once advocated, although he was short on specifics during the interview.
In any other administration, Petraeus might be a non-starter: the former CENTCOM commander and four-star general not only resigned after he was caught in an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, he was later indicted for carelessly mishandling classified information in his communications with her. But with Trump already causing major diplomatic scandals (and refusing to attend intelligence briefings, to boot) Petraeus could be one of the few people with the skill and ability to rein in Trump’s worst impulses.
That said, Petraeus, who still has to overcome the stigma of indictment before he is confirmed, will also have to compete against what is apparently a still growing list of candidates for the position, including Sen. Bob Corker, as well as Giuliani and Romney, who are still in the running. And even if he does come out on top, Petraeus’ selection would bring the number of military men in Trump’s cabinet to three, further raising concerns about the outsized influence of the military in what is ostensibly a civilian-run government. Petraeus, however, on Sunday tried to portray himself as someone who could check Trump. “I don’t vote, ... and I also did not support him nor did I oppose him. Nor did I support or oppose any other candidate,” he told Stephanopulous. “I’ve truly tried to be apolitical, nonpolitical.”
TINA NGUYEN
Tina Nguyen is a reporter for The Hive, covering politics and the media.
READ MORE: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/david-petraeus-secretary-of-state-donald-trump
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