And he is a very good politician at that – at least thus far.  He is showing himself to be much more pragmatic than idealistic.  He may not be in bed with the bad stuff coming out of Chicago these days, but he did learn the game there. 

In fairness, there is historical precedent for someone coming from a place where corrupt politics reigned, yet emerging untainted.   His name was Harry Truman, who rose to power with the help of a notorious Kansas City machine, but who proved himself to be a man of courage and integrity.  This reference point should be kept in mind before many rush to judgment and try to tie the president-elect to anything before all the facts come out.

One of Mr. Obama’s heroes – John F. Kennedy – campaigned in 1960 on the promise to get the country “moving again.”  But among his first appointments after he was elected (much to the chagrin of many who had voted for his promise of change) were J. Edgar Hoover to remain at the FBI and Allen Dulles at CIA.  

Putting a cabinet team together is harder to do than it is to promise.  Most presidential victors realize this early on.  A close look at new presidents putting teams together yields many stories about surprises and notable oversights. 

When Jack Kennedy decided (strongly influenced by dear-old-dad) to appoint his younger brother Bobby as Attorney General (though RFK was anemic in the legal experience department), he knew it would be controversial.  He joked: “Well, I think I’ll open the door of the Georgetown house some morning about 2:00 A.M., look up and down the street, and, if there’s no one there, I’ll whisper, ‘It’s Bobby.’”

The actual announcement was not made that way – but JFK did tell his brother to comb his messy hair to look more grown up before meeting the press.

When Richard Nixon was putting his first cabinet together, someone suggested the name of David Rockefeller for the treasury post – then immediately said, “but obviously we can’t have two Rockefellers in the cabinet.”  This comment was based on the presumption that Nixon was going to give long-time rival Nelson Rockefeller a role in his administration.  Nixon’s reply to the “we can’t have two Rockefellers” comment was: “Who says we have to have one?” 

Nixon did, however, tap George Romney – the rival who just 18 months before was the number one contender for the Republican nomination – to serve as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.  Romney accepted and faded away politically.

It will be interesting to see how the new Obama “team of rivals” fares.  Lyndon Johnson used to say that sometimes it was better to “have someone inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.” 

We’ll see.