Its winter wonderland blogging from DC! It looks like we’ve got about 6 inches of snow on the ground so far, and its still falling. The University is on a delayed opening, so my morning class is canceled, leaving some time for NSC blogging. Late last week, the Obama NSC released NSPD-1, the tradit...

A front page story in today’s WaPo describes in detail President Obama’s ambitious plans for reorganizing the National Security Council and the entire process of decision-making in that realm.  In my New Atlanticist piece “Obama to Run Foreign Policy From White House,” I ass...

There's actually a lot Obama can learn from the troubled presidency of George W. Bush....

In naming retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as veterans affairs secretary, President-elect Barack Obama made what may be the most politically and morally significant choice of his transition....

A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Americans think Barack Obama is handling the transition well and picking an outstanding team.  Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones: Americans widely approve of Barack Obama’s decisions, announced on Monday, to name Hillary Clinton secretary of state and to ask ...

When the journalistic pack bites into a tasty cliché they often refuse to let go, lazily chewing and regurgitating a phrase like “team of rivals� long after the flavor is gone. Derived from the Doris Kearns Goodwin book on Lincoln’s cabinet, that morsel had scant relevance to the cabinet bein...

Today Obama formally announced the core of his National Security team: Clinton at State, Gen. Jones as SAPNSA, and Gates to remain at DoD. It’s a team of experienced insiders, centrists, pragmatists, and even Republicans. Some have asked the obvious question: Is this Change you can Believe in for ...

As announced earlier, Barack Obama rolled out his new national security team this morning in a press conference in Chicago. Via press release, here are his prepared remarks: Good morning. Last week, we announced our economic team, which is working as we speak to craft an Economic Recovery Program to...

It’s being widely reported that Bob Gates has agreed to stay on, at least for a time, as Secretary of Defense.   Politico’s Mike Allen fills in the rest of the foreign policy team: Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and ...

Photo-illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images With two months still to go before the national conventions, amid all the initial media buzz about vice-presidential candidates, one thing is clear: Barack Obama has an unusually wide array of possible running mates. Obama is as starkly unusual...