Katzenbach discusses Ashcroft, power politics

As President Bush assembled his cabinet of advisers, some of his nominations drew criticism, but none more than John Ashcroft.

The current Attorney General raised a firestorm of controversy from abortion and civil rights activists who felt that Ashcroft's record and beliefs ran counter to their own.

Former Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach '43 — who served under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations in several roles and was an advocate for civil rights during the 1960s — said he had been asked several times about his thoughts on Bush's choice.

"I have been asked several times to comment on Ashcroft," Katzenbach said, "but I continually refused."

Speaking yesterday in a crowded Whig-Clio Senate Chamber on the changes in the Department of Justice, the Bush administration and Ashcroft, Katzenbach voiced his opininon on the current Attorney General.

"I don't have any problems with Aschcroft in the sense that what Bush wants is what Bush will get," Katzenbach said. "I don't think that Ashcroft is incompetent to be attorney general. I would have voted against him in the Senate."

Referring to the kind of changes that will occur during the current administration, Katzenbach was uncertain about from whom Bush will be receiving advice.

"I don't know whether he'll be getting his advice from Ashcroft or from within the White House," he said.

As a Washington insider during the 1960s, Katzenbach traced the changes in the power structure of the government legal structure during his talk.

"There have been dramatic changes in the Department of Justice in the last 40 years," Katzenbach said.

During his tenure, Katzenbach remarked on how much responsibility the individual cabinet members and departments were afforded.

"Nobody in the White House was giving legal opinions," Katzenbach said. "It was all through the Department of Justice."

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The responsibility made cabinet members accountable to the public and Congress. The autonomy of the departments made it so the President couldn't shop around, but rather the President would make his attorney general responsible for what went on his field.

However, Katzenbach — who was Deputy Attorney General under Robert Kennedy — said the Department of Justice did more than try legal cases.

"People tend to think of the Department of Justice as law enforcement," Katzenbach said. "[It was an] awful lot more than law enforcement."

As an advocate of civil rights reform in the 1960s, Katzenbach said that the focus in the Department hinged on the allocation of resources.

"You can allocate funds and resources like the FBI and prisons," Katzenbach said. "There is a great deal of discretion on the wishes of the President."

But regardless of the direction or allocation of resources, Katzenbach maintained that the individual departments were responsible for the substance.

After the 1960s and the effects of civil rights, television and stronger political parties, Katzenbach said he felt there was a transformation of power.

"There was a move of more and more power into the White House from all departments," he said.

Because of television, Katzenbach said that the White House had to respond to everything rather than directing questions to specific departments.

He also said he noticed that soft-money campaign contributions had brought new life to the larger political parties which, in turn, resulted in "less independence" for departments.

"President Clinton was getting all his advice from counsel, not from Janet Reno," he said.

Katzenbach questioned who was in control of the Clinton administration.

"There is too much control into a bunch of faceless people who never have to testify," he said.

"I don't see how Janet Reno could have been in charge of the Justice department," he said. "She didn't have any control; the important thing is who has access to power."

Looking to the future, Katzenbach speculated that there will be fewer cases on the environment and the Republican notion of civil rights for everybody, referring to his argument that what will come from Ashcroft will be what Bush wants.