TILLERSON COULD SHINE AS SECRETARY OF STATE
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as the next secretary of State has caused another post-election panic attack. Looking beyond Tillerson’s engagement with Russia, however, reveals someone with a distinguished education, a notable leadership record and substantial foreign affairs experience.
It’s a fact that Tillerson is a businessman with a history of looking out for corporate interests such as access to energy, growth, sustainability and profit. But assessing his candidacy on that would be like saying the president should be judged for a business position on a record of looking out for Americans, national security and the U.S. economy. In both cases, the leaders have their organization’s priorities and strategic goals in mind.
GRASP OF GEOPOLITICS
The assertion that Tillerson has no diplomatic experience is myopic. If having been a diplomat is a prerequisite to leading the State Department, 66 out of 68 secretaries of State, including John Kerry, would have failed the test.
Former secretaries of State James Baker and Condoleezza Rice, and former Defense secretary Robert Gates, have vouched for Tillerson’s grasp of geopolitics. If he is a blatantly bad choice, such esteemed figures would be unwilling to tarnish their reputations and legacies, regardless of any financial ties to ExxonMobil.
As a former State Department official, I have argued that diplomatic skills are not the domain of diplomats only. Some of my former colleagues disagree, but the fact remains there are dozens of professions outside of federal service where one must master the arts of nuanced conversation and high-stakes negotiation, and possess an understanding of foreign cultures, customs, even languages. International development, banking, law and foreign news reporting are just a few examples. Another is international business, an area in which Tillerson has more than 40 years of experience in Asia, Europe and North America.
His close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin are already causing consternation about Tillerson. But questioning his skills and loyalty to U.S. interests because of some handshakes with Putin is overly pessimistic.
Tillerson has led ExxonMobil, a company that remains an industry benchmark for everything from profitability to safety standards, to become the No. 2 company on the Fortune 500 list.
In 1995, he became president of Exxon Yemen Inc. and Esso Exploration and Production Khorat Inc., reflecting exposure to the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Asia. In 2011, Tillerson signed a deal with the autonomous Kurdish government to develop oil fields, an agreement criticized for skirting Baghdad and Washington. The move, however, would unlock Iraq’s underground wealth and put money into a decrepit economy governed by politicians and bureaucrats stuck in constant gridlock. BEYOND EXXONMOBIL Tillerson’s résumé is far broader than ExxonMobil, its dealings with the Kremlin and the Order of Friendship medal Russia bestowed on him. According to his ExxonMobil biography, he is a trustee of the reputable Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies; he’s part of the Business Roundtable, an association of leading CEOs working to promote robust public and economic policies; and he is an honorary trustee of the Business Council for International Understanding, a non-partisan organization supporting international trade and commerce.
He also has served as national president of the Boy Scouts of America and director of the United Negro College Fund.
As the secretary of State, Tillerson might have to keep in check some corporate reflexes and instincts he has honed over the years. But his record and professional success in his industry are not indicative of someone who makes impulsive, uninformed decisions that will harm the organization he leads. Tillerson’s wealth, like that of other Trump selections for top government posts, has been cited as reason for concern. But the U.S. government is one of the least corrupt, most transparent systems in the world. Any malfeasance by any federal official could and should be exposed, if all the mechanisms of the federal government are working properly.
Trump campaigned on bringing business acumen and efficiency to government. Selecting a global business executive to lead the world superpower’s premier foreign affairs agency is unconventional, but it’s by no means foolish.