Favorable or Unfavorable #164: Clark Clifford

[vcczar]

Clark Clifford of MO is a rare cabinet officer who gets most of his actions as a non-cabinet advisor. Naval officer during WWII. He was a constant advisor to Truman until he left politics in 1950 for a decade. In 1961, he was brought on as a routine advisor for JFK and then LBJ, the latter who made him Sec of Defense. I think if LBJ had gone on to a 2nd elected term, he would have moved Clifford to Sec of State. Humphrey might have done so as well, or kept him on at Defense, had he won in 1968. He was considered the archetype of a Washington insider, so Carter vowed to not let him in the White House to keep his reformer image, but by 1980 he was using him as a diplomat. 

His actions:

Clifford, Clark	1946	Becomes close advisor to Truman, eventually pushing him to embrace left politics and civil rights on campaign
Clifford, Clark	1947	Plays a role in working w/ Congress to craft the National Security Act
Clifford, Clark	1948	A key strategist to Truman's 1948 campaign and upset reelection victory
Clifford, Clark	1948	A key figure in convincing Truman to recognize Israel against Sec of State Marshall's objections
Clifford, Clark	1968	Confirmed Sec of Defense for LBJ, during Vietnam War
Clifford, Clark	1968	Inlfuences LBJ toward a deescalation strategy in Vietnam
Clifford, Clark	1976	Influential enough that Carter publicly vows to exclude him from Carter admin discussions, although he does not