When Dreams Fade: The Career of Richard Clarke

Once upon a time, Richard Clarke had a promising career in the State Department. But something happened to derail that.

To understand this bureaucratic mindset, consider that—while at the U.S. State Department in the mid-1980s—Clarke concocted a zany plan to incite a coup against Moammar Gadhafi to punish the Libyan strongman for embracing terrorism. Clarke’s suggestion: SR-71 spy planes would buzz Libya, creating sonic booms that would appear to herald an invasion, thus unnerving Gadhafi. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy would fake hostilities off the coast and the State Department would encourage “speculation about likely Gadhafi successors,” according to a memo coauthored by Clarke. After news of the plan leaked, an embarrassed Reagan White House unceremoniously ditched it. - Declan McCullagh

The press were not amused.

Misleading Gaddafi was one thing, but what troubled Washington’s press corps was the idea that it had been duped as well. Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Norman Pearlstine stood by the basic thrust of his paper’s story: that the U.S. believed Libya had resumed sponsoring terrorist acts, and was exploring ways of deterring Gaddafi. But Pearlstine ”deplored” the Administration’s ”attempt to mislead the Journal and its readers” about the ”likelihood of employing some of these options.” A New York Times editorial summarized the reasons for the journalistic outrage: ”All media, all Americans, are vulnerable because they must trust their Government to some degree. The deliberate abuse of that trust is a scandal of the first magnitude.” - Ed Magnuson

Clarke was through at the State Department, but eventually, his career would recover somewhat

Presidential Decision Directives (PDD) 62 and 63 outline steps to improve counter-terrorism and infrastructure-security efforts, respectively. Overseeing them will be the responsibility of Richard Clarke, who was named national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection, and counter- terrorism. Clarke reports to National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. - New Technology Week

But, of course, he had higher aspirations.

Clarke wants to be the next CIA chief. His underlings started spreading rumors on Capitol Hill in an effort to secure his promotion. - Rob Rosenberger

Instead, things worked out a bit differently.

It’s not often that the White House holds a press conference to announce a demotion. But that’s what happened on October 9, when Tom Ridge, President Bush’s new homeland security adviser, and Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser, introduced the administration’s newest anti-terrorism staffers. At a sterile ceremony in the fourth- floor briefing room of the Old Executive Office Building, Ridge and Rice announced that Richard Clarke, a pale, gray-haired man sitting on stage in an ill-fitting suit, would be the special assistant to the president for cyberspace security. It’s an important job, and insiders say Clarke wanted it. But it’s also a step down: For the last three years Clarke has held the more exalted title of National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-Terrorism— America’s terrorism czar. Sitting next to Clarke at the ceremony was the new czar, Wayne A. Downing, a retired four-star general who will report to both Ridge and Rice and hold the rank of deputy national security adviser. The shift from Clarke, the bureaucratic insider, to Downing, the Army general, signals something important: The war on terrorism will no longer be directed by people who specialize in politics; it will be directed by people who specialize in war. For almost three decades Clarke mastered official Washington. What he didn’t master was counterterrorism. - Ryan Lizza

He made it back from disgrace once. He knew he would not do it a second time.

So let me say here, as I am under oath, that I will not accept any position in the Kerry administration, should there be one. - Richard Clarke

Like one was ever going to be offered.

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When Dreams Fade: The Career of Richard Clarke

Gadhafi Claims Reward Too Small for Giving up WMD Pursuit

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