Growing Body of Work on Rex Tillerson’s Stewardship of the State Department

Posted: 1:10 am ET
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During his welcome remarks at the State Department on February 2, Secretary Tillerson talked about three core principles Foggy Bottom should adopt: accountability, honesty, and respect.  Secretary Tillerson said, “What I ask of you and what I demand of myself – I will embrace accountability, honesty, and respect no less than anyone.”

Six months into his tenure, with bad press coming almost daily, he is in for some rough reality check.  Morale is rock bottom. √ Most of his top lieutenants are making things worse not better. √ And folks with tons of expertise are leaving in droves. √ Sure he can replace all of them if he wants to, but he cannot replace their expertise overnight. People typically do not leave in droves even when they disagree with official policies. People do not leave over a reorganization even if it’s touted as get this, “employee-led.” But people leave when they’re treated poorly. Who knew?

In any case, below are some collected clips on Mr. Tillerson’s stewardship of the 228-year old agency. Unfortunately, we don’t have the Oral History collection yet. Oh, and please pardon the clip from Baghdad Bob.

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