Ashcroft and Evans Resign
The first two Cabinet level resignations following the election are in. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans have both resigned. The President had positive statements to make concerning both men and the rush to guess whom might replace them has begun.
Evans, a longtime friend of the President, is highly regarded in most circles and may turn out to be the greater challenge to replace, not so much for the significance of his office, but rather due to the relationship he had with the President.
Ashcroft on the other hand, was not highly regarded by the Democratic Party and many on the right who believed that his zeal in the pursuit of terrorist outweighed his concern for the law. To many, he often ignored the Constitutional protections afforded Americans in his pursuit of terrorist, and took the position that the greater good was served to secure American’s lives, even at the cost of some aspects of privacy or liberty. Whether you ascribe to that view or not, one must recognize that he served tirelessly to protect American's from what he perceived as a greater threat.
It isn’t likely that I could predict the replacements of either man, so I will not attempt it. What I will do is offer this:
To both men, thank you for your service and commitment to our nation. God bless and may your efforts be judged to have been righteous.
