Estranged from Zoellick, Rice relied for advice on Burns and State Department Counselor Philip Zelikow. A former Foreign Service Officer and brilliant University of Virginia professor, Zelikow was near the top of the arrogance scale in a building where arrogance is the norm, uniting such disparate figures as Bolton and Burns. Zoellick busied himself by specializing on China and Sudan, unusual for a deputy secretary, but finally had enough after 18 months and left last July.
That began a furtive, sporadic search for a deputy. Several prospects (including Marine Gen. James Jones, retiring as NATO supreme commander) said no, perhaps warned off by Zoellick's experience. Negroponte, named DNI despite his lack of intelligence experience, now was implored by fellow FSOs to bring order out of chaos. Retired Adm. Mike McConnell, though he had been out of the intelligence game for 10 years, replaced Negroponte.
Negroponte will find other empty offices at State. Zelikow, Counter-terrorism Coordinator Hank Crumpton and Assistant Secretary (political-military) John Hillen all have resigned and have not yet been replaced. Under Secretary (arms control) Robert Joseph is reported going and Under Secretary (economic affairs) Josette Sheeran Shiner is leaving to head the World Food Program.
With the State Department permanent bureaucracy traditionally hostile to Republican administrations, it is remarkable to see two FSOs, Negroponte and Burns, in the department's No. 2 and No. 3 slots. Insiders relish their confrontation. When Negroponte was flying high as Ronald Reagan's Communist-fighting ambassador to Honduras, Burns was a rookie staff assistant to the U.S. envoy in Cairo. That may turn out to be a good show, but it is not reassuring for a country facing myriad challenges worldwide.