At homeland defense: black belt with street smarts

Bernard Kerik is the only cabinet secretary-designate whose life story has already been optioned by a major movie studio.

The son of a New Jersey prostitute who was murdered when he was a boy, Kerik is a high school dropout, a karate black belt, and a former security guard for the Saudi Royal family. His rise from ghetto streets to become a trusted presidential adviser is marked by discipline, determination, and a fierce loyalty to the men who put their trust in him, from former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to President Bush. He'll need all of those resources when, pending Senate confirmation, the former New York City police commissioner takes the helm of the sprawling Department of Homeland Security.

Cobbled together from 22 different agencies in the wake of 9/11, Homeland Security has more than 180,000 employees responsible for protecting everything from the Hoover Dam to a small chemical plant in New Jersey to the nation's coasts. Kerik's background will help, though it can hardly ensure success in a job that blends the challenges of Washington turf wars with street-level operations.

While outgoing Secretary Tom Ridge had the challenge of flying "the airplane at the same time he was building it," in the words of one expert, he was criticized as an ineffective champion for the new agency in Washington's gladiator-like bureaucratic battles. Some Homeland Security experts contend that Kerik, as a street-wise, no-nonsense leader, may be exactly what the agency needs as it matures from a still-confusing start-up into an effective catalyst for the nation's civil defense.

"Between Ridge and Kerik, you've gone from the charming, good-looking big man on campus to Rambo," says Juliette Kayyem, executive director of the National Security Program at the Kennedy School of Government. "Kerik's also a first responder, which is good because it means he'll be much more sympathetic to their needs. But there's a big question about whether he has the management skills that are needed to run such a huge department."

When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created, the Washington establishment extended lots of good will to Ridge and his then-small handful of aides.

But as the mammoth agency began to take shape, so did serious infighting. The scuttlebutt was that some agencies sent their "B-teams" over to DHS, undermining its credibility. Then, in a city where proximity is a symbol of power, the department was moved from its initial perch by the White House to Washington's far reaches on Nebraska Avenue to accommodate its rapid growth. Confusion reigned over who had authority on a variety of issues.

Priorities were set, changed, and set again. In the 2-1/2 short years DHS has existed, Ridge developed eight different security strategies. And then there was the color-coded alert system, which quickly became the butt of late night jokes.

Page: 1 | 2