As part of an ongoing post-election series entitled "The 44th President," The New York Times conducted an "If You Were President ..." reader poll on November 11 asking readers to "Make your selections for President-elect Obama's cabinet by choosing the name of a potential member of the new administration from a pulldown, or entering your own pick."

Readers were asked to name their choices for secretaries of State, Defense, Homeland Security, and Treasury and for Attorney General. Results for the top ten finishers for each post were displayed in the top level of a menu, with subsequent finishers visible by scrolling down the list.

Under the list of top winners for Secretary of the Treasury, the name of Rep. Ron Paul (R.-Texas) was plainly visible in fifth place. Dr. Paul finished behind former Federal Reserve Charman and Obama economic adviser Paul A. Volcker, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy F. Geithner, and Princeton economics professor Paul Krugman — but ahead of current Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, financier Warren E. Buffett, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine, international financial speculator George Soros, former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, presidential candidate Ralph Nader, and Microsoft head Bill Gates.

Rep. Paul also finished in the top ten for Secretary of Defense, taking ninth place, just behind Hillary Clinton. For the post of Secretary of State, Rep. Paul finished 11th, just behind Bill Clinton. Curiously, since only the top ten finishers were visible without manually scrolling down the list, Rep. Paul also finished in 11th place for both Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General.

A name long forgotten by most people, but significant to readers of The John Birch Society's affiliated biweekly magazine, The New American, was Anthony Lake, who placed seventh for Secretary of Homeland Security. Lake was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1996 to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. When the nomination was announced, the editors of The New American already knew about Lake's subversive background, including his longtime association with the Soviet-linked Institute for Policy Studies. The magazine exposed Lake's subversive past in a major article entitled "Security Risk for CIA" in the January 20, 1997 issue, and members of The John Birch Society spearheaded a campaign to circulate that information widely.

An op-ed by Douglas Brinkley in the February 10, 1997 New York Times attempted to salvage the Lake nomination by smearing those exposing his record, writing: "After Mr. Lake was nominated for Director of Central Intelligence, the John Birch Society and other anti-government fringe groups launched a smear campaign.... In an error-ridden article in The New American, a John Birch publication, William F. Jasper dissected Mr. Lake's résumé and found a pattern of anti-Americanism."

As a result of The New American's exposure of Lake, and the work of JBS members to spread the truth about his background, the Clinton administration was forced to scuttle his nomination.

Though Congressman Paul ranked high on all lists, his highest score for Secretary of the Treasury is undoubtedly a result of his reputation as a steadfast supporter of installing sound economic policies for America. In a commentary entitled "GOP should ask why U.S. is on the wrong track" posted online by CNN on November 11, Paul observed: "What the Republican leadership didn't realize was that ALL spending is a tax on middle-class Americans through price inflation and that eventually the inevitable consequence is paying for the extravagance with a financial crisis."

During the 110th Congress, Rep. Paul introduced four bills to help restore a sound economy to our nation, including legislation to restore "competing currencies" (sound money to compete with inflation-prone fiat currency), and to abolish the Federal Reserve System.

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blakmira said:

#5 but not even on Top 25? Ron Paul is #1 on my list and always will be. He's the only one qualified for every single cabinet position. How odd then, that he would place so highly on this poll, yet not even make Time Magazine's top 25 list of "Person of the Year" by people's choice. Even odder, was that the several thousand votes for him seemed to vanish. Poof. As if he didn't even exist. Hmmmm. Really makes one wonder how differently things turn out, depending on just who counts the votes.

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November 24, 2008
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Charles_Byrd said:

	RP If I were President I'd pick Ron Paul to be my Secretary of State. His humble self-effacing "country doctor" demeanor makes him the ideal diplomat.
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November 25, 2008
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