The Perseverance of Michael Chertoff

By Brian Bennett

"You have to push through discomfort," says Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff. We're running along a leafy path on the edge of Washington. I've managed to keep up for the first three miles. But since he's two decades older than I am (he's 53), it's not such an impressive feat. Then in the last 50 yds., Chertoff takes off in a sprint. I'm left looking at his back. When I told this story to one of Chertoff's senior advisers, he smiled and said, "You met the Secretary."

Two years ago, Chertoff traded in a very good job for a very hard job. An appellate judge with a lifetime appointment, he left the bench to take over a federal department with a $43 billion budget and more than 180,000 employees, corralling 22 different agencies that report to 88 different subcommittees on the Hill. Chertoff's tenure didn't start well. He had been in the job just six months when Hurricane Katrina hit. That day, says P.J. Crowley, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Chertoff "didn't understand his job. He was shocked to realize he was responsible for more than security." Chertoff disagrees, saying he knew the existing disaster-response plans were flawed and had begun to fix them, but it turned out to be too late. Nonetheless, Chertoff was the man responsible for overseeing the response effort that now symbolizes tragic government dysfunction.

On a recent afternoon, during a tour of passenger security at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, a gray-haired man in a yellow plaid shirt asked the screener, "Who's the bald guy?"

"That's Chertoff, the Homeland Security Secretary."

"Oh, yeah," said the traveler. "He's the one who screwed up New Orleans. I thought he'd be gone after that."

Every time DHS fails, Chertoff emerges unscathed. "He's a survivor," says former DHS Inspector General Clark Kent Erwin. But how does he do it?

For one thing, he is not short on perseverance. In the face of strong opposition from pork-hungry lawmakers, he has repeated the obvious but politically radical notion that you should focus resources and money on cities most at risk of attack. He said it when he started in 2005. Repeated it in 2006. And in 2007, 77% of DHS grants are being doled out using a risk-based formula, up from zero in 2005. Chertoff has also backed off from the color-code hysterics, advocating a less reactive, more strategic approach to security. One of his major efforts is to get all U.S. ports ready to screen 98% of containers for radiation by the end of this year.

In addition, Chertoff has practice tuning out political pressure. Early in his career, he left a lucrative job at a white-shoe law firm to put away Mob bosses as a first assistant U.S. Attorney in New York. In 2006 the DHS Secretary weathered a call for his resignation from Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, then the Senate minority leader, because Las Vegas had been denied security dollars.

Just by looking at him, you can tell Chertoff is a man who exercises tremendous self-control. (Blogs have nicknamed him Skeletor.) He can get through the day on a couple of pieces of toast for breakfast, a PowerBar for lunch, and yogurt and an apple for dinner. When he was head of the criminal division at the Justice Department, subordinates remember, he would put a quarter down on the office counter for every personal fax he made.

Chertoff may require that self-control to get through the Washington cocktail parties that he--nearly alone among Bush Cabinet members--makes a point of frequenting. Socializing with his opponents, Chertoff says, allows him "to make sure we're not living in a tunnel." But there is a political benefit to all that Chardonnay sipping as well. You can look your opponents in the eye. "It's harder to demonize somebody if you've gotten to know them as a person," he says.

Even so, luck may have played the largest role in protecting Chertoff's job. He was able to sidestep the firestorm after Katrina largely because there was a fall guy, FEMA chief Michael Brown, to take the heat. Without Brown, it could have been Chertoff's head that rolled. In addition, the U.S. hasn't been attacked since 9/11. Most experts acknowledge that even with the best security preparations, there's still a risk of attack. Our number hasn't come up again since Chertoff took office.

Now Chertoff is the Administration's front man for an immigration-reform bill that has something for everyone to hate. From the beginning, he has pushed for a holistic approach to immigration that combines stronger enforcement of the existing laws with a way for workers to enter the country lawfully to minimize illegal traffic across the borders. That has left Chertoff acting as referee between Senators hammering out tough compromises. South Carolina's Republican Senator Lindsey Graham calls him the sherpa who guided lawmakers from both sides of the aisle through the complex issues.

Weather forecasters predict this summer will be a horrific hurricane season. Chertoff is planning to visit every state that could be in a storm's path. After Katrina, he says, the department implemented a way to track the location of food and water heading into a disaster area, and developed clear procedures for activating the military's aid with helicopters, logistics and soldiers the moment it is needed. Chertoff says he's ready. If not, his seat could get very uncomfortable.