Party Insiders Would Have Roles in a Dukakis Cabinet

If elected, Michael S. Dukakis, with his close ties to the Harvard intelligentsia and his obsession with the Massachusetts “miracle,” is likely to stir as much uneasiness among members of the Washington political Establishment as Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and other ex-governors who have previously won the presidency.

As a result, according to those who know Dukakis best, the Boston-bred politician would make a concerted effort to reassure the party Establishment by turning to many of their own number--men and women who currently hold elected office as well as those who have had posts in previous Democratic administrations--to serve in the Dukakis Cabinet.

Among the Democrats understood to be on Dukakis’ early list of potential Cabinet officers are members of Congress such as Reps. Lee H. Hamilton of Indiana, William H. Gray III of Pennsylvania and Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri; some former Carter appointees, including former deputy secretary of state Warren M. Christopher, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker and former White House adviser Anne Wexler, and veterans of the 1988 presidential campaign such as former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt.

Although Dukakis himself refuses to disclose the names of those he is considering, many names of potential Cabinet officers have emerged in recent weeks either because they are people whom the Massachusetts governor admires, people whose advice he has sought or people who themselves are campaigning for a position in the Administration. Names of likely candidates were obtained by The Times in interviews with a wide variety of Dukakis advisers.

Dukakis campaign officials say they have been overwhelmed by an enormous number of resumes and policy memos received from prominent Democrats seeking an Administration position if Dukakis is elected--so overwhelmed, in fact, that they are planning to set up a special office in Washington in the near future to handle these and similar matters.

Cabinet speculation has been fueled by the natural curiosity of party regulars who are understandably anxious to know as much as possible about the preferences of their new nominee. Just as his selection of Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas as his vice presidential nominee revealed Dukakis as a political pragmatist, his choice of Cabinet members would give American voters a better idea of the style and priorities of a Dukakis presidency.

Clearly Disappointed

Even though Dukakis has never conducted an anti-Washington campaign, as Carter and Reagan did, Democrats in Congress and elsewhere in Washington were clearly disappointed earlier this year when it became apparent that another governor and outsider had clinched the nomination. Among other things, they were fearful that a Dukakis Administration would be dominated by Boston politicians and the Harvard elite.

But Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.), a former Dukakis law school classmate and political adviser to the Democratic candidate, insisted those fears are unfounded.

“I think Michael will draw from all over the country--not just from Boston,” he said. “I think it is going to be an Administration of very high quality and integrity. Michael always draws top-notch people to work for him.”

Dukakis himself has frequently emphasized that he prefers the advice of Democratic officeholders--not academics. In his words: “I like mayors, I like governors, I like people who have been elected to office.”

No other appointment would be watched as closely as that of secretary of state--not only because foreign policy is seen as Dukakis’ weakness but also because it is a position traditionally reserved for a member of the party elite. The most obvious candidates for the job are former Vice President Walter F. Mondale and Christopher, currently a partner at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles.

Nevertheless, Dukakis insiders report that Hamilton, who already has been advising the candidate on foreign policy matters, is an even more likely choice than Mondale or Christopher. Hamilton, who declined to comment, is the No. 2 Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and former chairman of the House Iran-Contra committee, and he was a finalist in the Dukakis vice presidential sweepstakes.

No Lesser Position

Mondale, the unsuccessful 1984 presidential candidate who currently works as a lawyer and heads the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is said by his friends to be anxious to serve as secretary of state, but unwilling to accept any lesser position. Nevertheless, Dukakis advisers view him as an unlikely choice because be might be too independent and too closely identified with the failures of the Carter Administration.

Christopher gained a great deal of attention in the waning days of the Carter Administration for his successful efforts to win release of the American hostages held in Iran. He also served as the Justice Department’s No. 2 official during the Johnson Administration. Like Mondale, he makes no secret of his desire to be secretary of state.

For Treasury secretary, the undisputed favorite is Volcker, who was originally appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve board by Carter and then reappointed by Reagan. But Volcker is not likely to be willing to return to government unless there were a major economic crisis brewing, and thus Dukakis may be forced to turn to Gerald E. Corrigan, the current president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and a Volcker protege.

Just a few weeks ago, Dukakis told a group of economic experts with whom he had dinner that he would prefer “someone the world knows” as Treasury secretary. “My model would be Paul Volcker,” he said, according to those who were there. “If I can’t get him, I’d find out who else to choose, but I’d find someone the markets would recognize.”

While the name of prominent New York investment banker Felix Rohatyn also is frequently mentioned by Democrats as a possible choice for Treasury secretary, those who claim to be familiar with Dukakis’ thinking flatly rule him out. According to sources, appointment of Rohatyn would not send reassuring signals to Wall Street or U.S. trading partners.

Dukakis’ choice for secretary of defense is expected to be someone with a hands-on management style with a mandate to clean up fraud in procurement programs and restrain Pentagon spending. The most frequently mentioned candidates for defense secretary are Harold Brown, who was secretary of defense in the Carter Administration; William J. Perry, who was one of Brown’s undersecretaries, and Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Although Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is also mentioned as a possibility, the likelihood of such a choice was diminished by Nunn’s refusal to be considered by Dukakis for the position of vice president.

More Conservative

Aspin, whose views on nuclear policy and other defense matters are considerably more conservative than those of Dukakis, has nevertheless been a leader in the effort to reposition the Democratic Party as an advocate of a strong defense.

Perhaps the only major Cabinet position that is likely to go to a Boston insider is attorney general. The leading candidates are two of Dukakis’ closest advisers, Susan Estrich, a Harvard law professor who would be the first woman in history to head the Justice Department, and Paul P. Brountas, a skilled lawyer and confidant to the candidate who directed his search for a vice president.

A few other women also are considered likely candidates for the Dukakis Cabinet, although they have not been linked to any particular post. One is Wexler, currently a lobbyist with strong Boston ties who served as a White House adviser to Carter. Another woman, Madeleine Albright, who also worked in the Carter White House, is seen as the most likely person to be chosen as Dukakis’ national security adviser.

Members of Congress who are mentioned for a variety of Cabinet positions include Gray, who heads the House Budget Committee, and Gephardt, an unsuccessful presidential candidate this year who has made trade policy his primary focus.

Interior secretary is another position with an undisputed leading candidate: Babbitt.

“Bruce Babbitt is the only name you hear talked about,” said Larry Williams, a Sierra Club lobbyist.

As for Babbitt himself, he is known to want to be CIA director instead.

Among the candidates for education secretary are Mary Hatwood Futrell, president of the National Education Assn.; John Brademas, former Indiana congressman and president of New York University, and Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Labor secretary also is attracting women and minority candidates such as San Antonio Mayor Henry G. Cisneros; William Lucy, international secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Georgetown University law professor who was commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Carter Administration.

Candidates for agriculture secretary include Eugene Moos, a family farmer and top aide to Rep. Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.); Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.), and three state agriculture commissioners: Jim Nichols of Minnesota, Jim Hightower of Texas and Gus Schumacher of Massachusetts.

Among those most often mentioned to head the Department of Health and Human Services are Phillip Lee, president of the San Francisco Health Commission and a former Carter appointee; Karen Davis, head of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University; Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Massachusetts health commissioner, and Hale Champion, former health, education and welfare undersecretary under Carter and former vice president for finance of Harvard.

Staff writers David Lauter, Tom Redburn, Art Pine, Melissa Healy, Paul Houston, Ronald J. Ostrow and Lee May also contributed to this story.