THE SHORT GOODBYE

By Michael Kramer

Bill Clinton says he has run his last campaign. That is not true. Another election looms. It is the race to be judged a great President, and the voters in that contest, historians, will look to see how Clinton tackles the thorniest issues, like balancing the budget and reforming the costly entitlement programs that perpetually threaten the nation's fiscal stability.

To reach the first rank of Presidents (a tall order, since it includes the men for whom monuments are built), Clinton knows he must govern as he ran, as a centrist. That means dealing constructively with a Congress controlled by Republicans and, at least in his mind, reconstituting his Administration in a way that mutes the influence of the liberal Democrats who have occupied critical posts since 1993.

Some who first earned their reputations as champions of the Democratic left, like White House chief of staff Leon Panetta and senior adviser George Stephanopoulos, are leaving voluntarily. Others, such as deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes, are being dumped unceremoniously. No one disputes the President's prerogative. He can have around him whomever he likes. But the shabby treatment accorded Ickes guarantees that while Clinton may someday be considered a great President, he will never be judged a particularly humane one.

Among those who have cleaned up after Clinton, Ickes stands alone. He helped steer Clinton through the shoals of personal trouble that threatened his first election and shrewdly ensured his being unchallenged from the left in '96. In between, Ickes served in two vital roles: he was the White House enforcer (the person who said no, since the President famously never could); and he was one of the few voices arguing for the kind of compassionate liberalism that has defined the Democratic party until now. In the latter role especially, he will be missed. "The center is where it's at for us," says a Clinton aide. "But congressional liberals want a fair hearing even if the President goes against them. Harold was their conduit. So ditching him is shortsighted. Even if he just continued in the deputy job but really only twiddled his thumbs, he could always be portrayed as the 'in-close' guy the liberals could talk to."

Ickes wanted to succeed Panetta and told Clinton so. The President consulted a small circle that included nonfan Al Gore--a lifelong centrist, eager to run as one in 2000. As a result, the moderate Erskine Bowles was chosen instead. Ickes' one true advocate, Hillary Clinton, was outside the selection loop.

Ickes first heard rumors of his demise last Wednesday. He met the next day with Panetta, who said the choice was between Bowles and Deputy National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. Panetta also confirmed that Bowles had demanded Ickes' sacking as a condition for taking the job, a proviso leaked on Thursday for publication the next day. On Friday, Ickes, who had still heard nothing official, learned of Bowles' appointment from other aides as he helped brief Clinton for the press conference later that morning. But the President had not spoken with Ickes about his own fate. It was only later that day, after the mediafest, that Clinton finally told Ickes he was sorry. "It was outrageous but not surprising," says a top Clinton adviser. "Harold is owed a lot, but for Clinton, friendship and loyalty run only one way."