Old acquaintance be forgot?

These 15 prominent members of the Trump administration as of a year ago will ring in the new year elsewhere.

Jim Mattis:

The former general resigned as defense secretary in protest of President Trump’s abrupt decisions to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan.

Jeff Sessions:

The Alabama senator turned attorney general resigned after months of public abuse by the president over his recusal from the Russia investigation.

John Kelly:

The departure of the White House chief of staff is perhaps best explained by the administration’s ensuing struggle to find someone willing to take the job.

Ryan Zinke:

The interior secretary left after accumulating 15 ethics inquiries, one of which was referred to the Justice Department.

Scott Pruitt:

The notoriously anti-environment administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency was also beset by a multitude of internal investigations.

Rex Tillerson:

The Exxon executve turned secretary of state famously failed to deny reports that he had called Trump a “f—ing moron.”

H.R. McMaster:

Trump’s second national security adviser left sounding the alarm about the Russian cyberwarfare that the president seems determined to ignore.

Don McGahn:

The White House counsel’s reported cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller was among the sources of friction between him and Trump.

Nikki Haley:

The U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor managed a rare departure on good terms and with her credibility relatively intact.

Gary Cohn:

The former chief economic adviser reportedly purloined a letter from Trump’s desk to prevent a precipitous U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA.

David Shulkin:

The veterans affairs secretary resigned amid tensions with the White House that he attributed to his resistance to privatization.

Hope Hicks:

Trump’s longtime confidant and fourth communications director resigned after telling a House committee that she sometimes lied on the president’s behalf.

Rob Porter:

The White House staff secretary resigned amid allegations of serial spousal abuse.

Thomas Bossert:

The homeland security adviser was forced out after hard-liner John Bolton replaced McMaster as national security adviser.

Brenda Fitzgerald:

Financial conflicts of interest forced the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to resign after just six months on the job.

To see portraits: https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/ white-house-turnovers