Hasslington's Next Few Posts: Several Reasons Why President Obama's Early Decisions In Office Have Been Generally Good Ones

NOTE: FOR MY NEXT FEW POSTS, I PLAN TO HIGHLIGHT DECISIONS THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS MADE IN WHAT MIGHT BE CALLED HIS "FIRST SEVERAL DAYS IN OFFICE" THAT MIGHT BODE WELL FOR HIS PRESIDENCY OVER THE LONG-TERM. THESE DECISIONS WILL BE NUMBERED, BUT ONLY TO HELP READERS DIFFERENTIATE THEM FROM ONE ANOTHER. THEY WILL NOT NECESSARILY APPEAR IN ORDER OF "IMPORTANCE" (WHICH IS SOMETHING ONLY TIME CAN SORT OUT, ANYWAY).

I am doing this because I am thus far rather impressed with several decisions and/or announcements the new president has made over the past week or so. Though the economic stimulus package--which is an ongoing, momentous undertaking--has yet to come into full focus, a number of other important policy and personnel decisions have been made that should be receiving more major media attention than they are at present. Here is one of them:

DECISION #1

Policy Area: Foreign Policy (Middle East Policy)

Decision/Announcement: George Mitchell as U.S. Middle East Envoy

Just as he did when he was the president-elect, President Obama seems intent on carrying on with the process of surrounding himself with solid, accomplished, broadly-popular people (both at home and abroad). The appointment of former-U.S. Senator George Mitchell (a Democrat from Maine) as the Obama Administration's peace envoy to the Middle East is a case in point.

Mr. Mitchell, who is now in his seventies, was President Clinton's point man in the Northern Ireland peace process, during which he played a key role with much success. (His work in these regards reflected well on the Clinton Administration.) He also took Major League Baseball to task for the black cloud of steroids hanging over it, and the result seems to be a more vigilant MLB testing program and tougher punishments for those who fail the tests.

Domestically, Mr. Mitchell is liked by political kin and respected by political adversaries. He is often seen as being impressively professorial without coming across as having his head stuck in the clouds that surround the Ivory-Towers of academia, which is to suggest that he is also seen as being a relatively down-to-earth, politically moderate elder-statesman.

Given his steady-handed foreign policy work, Mr. Mitchell also carries clout internationally. Though Middle East peace talks are always very, very tricky endeavors, he could help to bring a sense of at least a bit more stability to the proceedings at a juncture when a little more stability is so desperately needed. (As a tangential point, the fact that Mr. Mitchell's mother was a Lebanese immigrant might help him ingratiate himself to some of the principle players in the region, at least a little bit.)

And it's surely the case that his successful foreign policy work for President Bill Clinton will help him when it comes to working with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.