Why Ebola Czar wasn’t a doctor?
“What we were looking for is not an Ebola expert but rather an implementation expert, and that’s exactly what Ron Klain is,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary. “He is somebody who has extensive experience in the federal government. He’s somebody that has extensive management experience when it comes to the private sector.”
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“He can see 10 steps ahead, and he’s got the leadership skills, the management skills and the substantive knowledge to figure out how to get in front of this — get out of a reactive stance and into a proactive stance,” said Stephanie Cutter, a former senior White House adviser. “He’s able to solve problems before they happen.”
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Former colleagues say Mr. Klain has a track record of successfully dispatching with knotty problems, policy or political. They point to his work helping Mr. Biden oversee the $787 billion stimulus package, although the initiative has also earned him criticism, since it gave rise to a deal with the solar-panel company Solyndra, which went bankrupt after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees.
“Ron will hit the ground running,” Mr. Donilon said. “He has deep relationships, he can master huge amounts of information quickly, pull together a staff quite quickly and well, and he will be able to operate at the cabinet level.”
— Before Ebola, New Czar Handled Political Crises
We recommend the newly started podcast series — EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder and Ronald Klain.