GovernmentExecutive.com

Well before the election was decided, speculation began on who would fill key slots in the next president's Cabinet.

One of those positions, of course, is Defense secretary, and even before Barack Obama's election, the speculation about who will get that coveted slot has centered around former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, a key Obama defense adviser.

That's assuming, of course, Obama doesn't convince Robert Gates to stay in his position after Jan. 20. Danzig himself endorsed Gates way back in June. As the Times of London reported, Danzig said, "My personal position is Gates is a very good secretary of Defense and would be an even better one in an Obama administration."

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Obama is "leaning toward" asking Gates to stay on. Time magazine stated that "the chances are said to be about 50-50" that Obama will ask Gates to remain in his post.

But Danzig has become one of Obama's closest advisers, and that, some observers say, puts him on the inside track to get the post himself. "Because they're close, and because Obama has come to value Richard's views," one former Pentagon official told Defense News on Monday, "it would seem if Richard wants to be Defense secretary, he could have it."

So what kind of Defense secretary would Danzig make? In March 2001, Government Executive's Jason Peckenpaugh wrote an in-depth profile of Danzig, exploring his management style as Navy secretary.

Peckenpaugh noted that Danzig is a "longtime student of government management" and that his "candid, activist management style won him wide acclaim amongst the service's officer corps and respect on Capitol Hill."

"Operating from the often-ignored civilian secretary's position," Peckenpaugh wrote, "Danzig convinced the Navy to rethink a host of conscription-era practices and act on ambitious technological projects. By early 2000, Danzig's performance had made him a contender for high-ranking positions at the Pentagon -- including Defense secretary -- in a potential Al Gore administration. To many observers, however, Danzig's legacy may lie in his larger effort to question all aspects of the Navy's organization and management, urging wide-ranging discussions of department practices and encouraging innovation."

When Danzig took over as Navy secretary in late 1998, the service was faced with a fleetwide shortfall of 22,000 sailors and a growing exodus of mid-level officers. After talking to junior officers about the situation, he launched an effort called Smart Work, designed to improve living conditions on ships and shift menial tasks like painting from sailors to civilians.

"He thinks that when you come into a bureaucracy you have to first work to understand its clich é s, what it holds dear," said Col. Robert E. Lee, who served as Danzig's executive assistant when he was undersecretary, the Navy's second-ranking position. "Once you understand an organization's history, mottos and culture, then you can talk about changing it."

Read the full profile of Richard Danzig from the March 1, 2001, issue of Government Executive