Nine hours.
That’s how long it took Barack Obama’s transition team to ensure that Bill Richardson was stripped of the title of “commerce secretary-designate” once it became fully aware that a federal grand jury investigation into Richardson’s administration in New Mexico might be a problem, according to an article in the New York Times.
“We saw the problem, understood it, Bill understood it wasn’t viable, and we stopped it,” John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama’s transition team, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Podesta refused to talk about how the decision to pull Richardson’s nomination was made. Obama and Richardson have both insisted that it was Richardson’s decision, but there’s been a dispute between their two camps about whether Richardson disclosed the seriousness of the investigation to Obama and his transition team before Obama decided to nominate the New Mexico governor for the job.
The article appears to make clear that, regardless of whether Richardson made the decision himself, it was the choice Obama’s people wanted him to make.
Anyway, the quick move by Obama once he understood the situation reveals his comfort with the responsibilities of leadership, according to the Times article.
“He knows he’s going to make mistakes. But he also knows that you’ve got to do the best you can, make tough decisions and move on,” the Times quoted Podesta as saying.