Mike Pompeo Needs to Clean Up After Rex Tillerson

Incoming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will inherit a State Department at a genuine inflection point. Devalued by the White House they serve, and feeling demoralized and bereft of champions, the department’s employees are today desperate for direction and support. And yet they largely wish to continue serving the country and to pursue U.S. interests and values with vigor. This combination of recent damage and future potential presents Pompeo, and the Trump administration, with a unique opportunity. They would do well to seize it.

Any secretary of state would have faced significant challenges leading Foggy Bottom at the outset of the Trump administration. Yet former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seemed particularly ill-prepared prior to taking the job and unable to get a handle on its vast responsibilities once in it.