WASHINGTON — He’s the right guy to ride herd over America’s intelligence operations. Or he’s a good guy but the wrong one for that tough job.
Those warring opinions emerged about James R. Clapper after President Barack Obama said Saturday that he wants the Pentagon’s intelligence chief to serve as director of national intelligence — the fourth since the post was created in 2004 — and wants the Senate to confirm him quickly.
“Eminently qualified,” Obama said of the blunt- spoken retired Air Force lieutenant general, offering his “complete confidence and support.”
Those who know Clapper, 69, and have worked with him during his long career in public service say he has never shied away from a fight.
That’s just what he might get from senators who will decide whether to put him in a job that comes with an unforgiving mandate, as explained by Obama: ensuring that the 16 spy agencies work “as one integrated team that produces quality, timely and accurate intelligence. Let’s be honest — this is a tough task.”
A preview of the Capitol Hill obstacles? “He’s a good guy but the wrong guy,” said the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri.
It’s a thankless job that has challenged the first three directors. Many intelligence and administrative experts think the role was ill-conceived when it was set up as part of the post-Sept. 11 reforms in 2004.
Clapper would succeed retired Adm. Dennis Blair, who resigned after frequent clashes with the White House and other intelligence officials.
A Vietnam veteran, Clapper once directed the Defense Intelligence Agency, which often works closely with the CIA. He was the first civilian director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes imagery such as satellite pictures or video taken from aircraft. In between, there were a few years in the private sector focusing on intelligence issues.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates likes Clapper, defense officials say, because he is known as always respectful but always direct.
“He possesses a quality that I value in all my advisers: a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it’s not what we want to hear,” Obama said in a Rose Garden ceremony Saturday.
In private, Clapper has faced off with lawmakers, sometimes resorting to colorful language to make a point. Those prickly relations might come back to haunt him as he awaits confirmation.
