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Should the president be able to appoint his relatives as cabinet members?

Should the president be able to appoint his relatives as cabinet members?

  • Yes

    Votes: 16 59.3%

  • No

    Votes: 11 40.7%
  • Total voters
    27
marcus903 said:
Just curious.
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Probably not a good idea. While I am not sure it should be explicitly illegal, I think any president who did it would pay a tremendous political price doing so.
 
Generally no, but it depends on the position and the relative.
 
They should be able to, but the Spoils System is generally a reward for people that help the POTUS get elected...unless you're Carter.
 
In most cases, "no". But I suppose there could be a situation where the President has a relative who would be an exceptional, obvious and acceptable choice.
 
Yes, the president can appoint whoever. Would it be a good choice? Well if the only reason is because the appointee is a relative, then absolutely not.
 
Redress said:
Probably not a good idea. While I am not sure it should be explicitly illegal, I think any president who did it would pay a tremendous political price doing so.
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Like JFK appointing his brother as Attorney General and also in charge of CIA special operations like over seeing the assassination attempts of Fidel Castro ?

I'm more concerned with Obama appointing second rate and incompetent people to cabinet post.
 
I think that it should be allowed. I mean let's just hope the relative knows what the heck they are doing. Who knows maybe someone relative might do a better job then those who are already in the cabinet.
 
APACHERAT said:
Like JFK appointing his brother as Attorney General and also in charge of CIA special operations like over seeing the assassination attempts of Fidel Castro ?

I'm more concerned with Obama appointing second rate and incompetent people to cabinet post.
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as I am with second rate and incompetent people posting on these threads ... but give Obama a break ... look at the tough act he had to follow ... How do you even come close to a Rumsfeld?
 
Why not? If he/she is qualified enough to fill such a cabinet position. However, he/she should be the best qualified or extremely well qualified to even be considered.

For example, if Hillary Rodham-Clinton wins the next presidency race, why would she not be allowed to give her hubby a job in the cabinet? Nothing to do with any legal issues like taking over for Mr. Holder or positions like that, but foreign secretary or secretary of state should be possible (if he so wished and his wife would want it too).

Cronyism, giving cushy jobs to friends or family is bad and cannot be tolerated, but if the choice for a friend or family member is based on sound judgment and high qualifications should never be an issue IMHO.
 
APACHERAT said:
I'm more concerned with Obama appointing second rate and incompetent people to cabinet post.
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Why be concerned. Do you think he would appoint anyone other than Liberals/Dems to most positions? So why be concerned about what you know is going to happen?
 
Redress said:
Probably not a good idea. While I am not sure it should be explicitly illegal, I think any president who did it would pay a tremendous political price doing so.
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Although JFK appointed his brother Bobby as AG without political ramifications, the country wasn't experiencing the rabid, irrational, hate-filled partisan divide it's experiencing now. Also, I could see a hypothetical President Hillary appointing Bill to her cabinet without much blowback... except for republicans, who would wail about anybody any democratic president wanted to appoint.

(Also, the same goes for democrats and republican presidents... this announcement cheerfully made to stave off hate mail. :) )


Edit: Oops, someone beat me to my hypothetical... lol. Damn, I'm always late to the party!
 
DiAnna said:
Although JFK appointed his brother Bobby as AG without political ramifications, the country wasn't experiencing the rabid, irrational, hate-filled partisan divide it's experiencing now. Also, I could see a hypothetical President Hillary appointing Bill to her cabinet without much blowback... except for republicans, who would wail about anybody any democratic president wanted to appoint.

(Also, the same goes for democrats and republican presidents... this announcement cheerfully made to stave off hate mail. :) )


Edit: Oops, someone beat me to my hypothetical... lol. Damn, I'm always late to the party!
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Only if there were to be a second term...
 
I'm OK with a president appointing anyone he thinks he can trust the most. I'd say because of that, relatives should not be excluded, and make fine candidates, if qualified for the position.
 
Able to - yes. Is it a good idea, with rare exception - no.
 
Is the relative qualified?
 
windowdressing said:
as I am with second rate and incompetent people posting on these threads ... but give Obama a break ... look at the tough act he had to follow ... How do you even come close to a Rumsfeld?
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unfortunately, Obama is becoming competitive in this measure

to the shrub's rumsfield we had panetta
to the discredited gonzales we have the inept holder
treasury was no improvement
kerry at sec state - excuse me!!!!!!

and in the smaller agencies Obama's appointees have been even worse
he is a terrible judge of talent
what is found is that those who got him elected were not the right selections to manage government departments
 
justabubba said:
unfortunately, Obama is becoming competitive in this measure

to the shrub's rumsfield we had panetta
to the discredited gonzales we have the inept holder
treasury was no improvement
kerry at sec state - excuse me!!!!!!

and in the smaller agencies Obama's appointees have been even worse
he is a terrible judge of talent
what is found is that those who got him elected were not the right selections to manage government departments
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Yes, this administration is a complete joke.

What's new?
 
clownboy said:
Able to - yes. Is it a good idea, with rare exception - no.
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are you trying to infer that billy carter would not have been an excellent secretary of state. such a diplomat
 
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