A Cabinet for the ages

The polls make it clear that Americans — Republicans especially — are disgusted with political insiders.

There's something to be said for political experience. But as neurosurgeon Ben Carson, one of three outsiders at or near the top of the Republican presidential polls, noted: "There is more than 9,000 years of political experience in Congress. Look where it's gotten us."

We've learned through bitter experience that what matter most in a public officeholder are intelligence, courage and character — little of which are in evidence in Washington, D.C., these days.

An outsider president could compensate for his or her lack of experience in government by assembling a Cabinet for the ages. My dream Cabinet would consist of:

• Condoleeza Rice or John Bolton as secretary of state. Ms. Rice was a disappointment the first time around, chiefly because she's a lousy administrator. But she's a brilliant woman, a Russian expert and an attractive spokeswoman for America.

Mr. Bolton is brilliant, too, and tough as nails. He has the administrative skills Ms. Rice lacks. My preference would be to have Ms. Rice out front and Mr. Bolton as deputy secretary actually running the place.

• Duncan Hunter Sr. as secretary of defense. The former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and former Army Ranger is just the guy to restore order, direction and morale to a bloated Pentagon that has gone badly awry.

• Rick Perry as secretary of homeland security. Who better to build the wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, accelerate deportation of violent felons among illegal immigrants and crack down on "sanctuary cities" than the man who for 12 years was governor of the state with the longest border with Mexico?

• Mitt Romney as secretary of the treasury. He wasn't the right candidate for president in 2012, but he's perfect for this job. To clean up the awful — and rapidly worsening — economic mess we're in, Mr. Romney would need a lot of help from:

• Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, a former Indiana governor and Reagan budget director. We've got to clamp a lid on wasteful federal spending. No one could do this better than Mr. Daniels.

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or New Mexico Gov. Susanna Martinez for attorney general. Mr. Christie was a U.S. attorney, Ms. Martinez a state prosecutor. Both are tough enough to clean up the cesspool that the Obama Justice Department has become.

• Arguably the biggest Augean stable a new administration will have to clean up is the Obamacare mess at Health and Human Services. The man most qualified to man the hoses (or divert the river) is Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

With the possible exception of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mr. Jindal is the smartest Republican in politics. He was secretary of Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals at age 25 and an assistant HHS secretary at 30. He served in Congress before being elected governor in 2007.

• For secretary of labor, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. While others have talked the talk, no one has walked the walk better. No one is better qualified to do — or more likely to succeed at — reining in federal public employee unions the way he did public employee unions in the Badger State.

Perhaps the greatest threat to our democracy is a federal civil service that has become a Mandarinate, relentlessly increasing its perks and privileges, shielding itself from accountability, callously treating the people it is supposed to serve.

Scott Walker is perhaps the only person in America who can convert "public servant" from an oxymoron to the truth once again. There is no more important job.

There are other important Cabinet posts. Fortunately, there are many qualified people on a deep Republican bench to fill them. I'm thinking in particular of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has drawn well-deserved praise for how she's handled the Charleston church shooting, the Confederate flag flap and the recent flooding. But there are others.

If a President Ben Carson or Carly Fiorina — or even a President Donald Trump — were to take advantage of the enormous pool of talent available, he or she would have a successful administration despite his or her lack of experience in government.

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JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.