Cabinet shake-up
The shake-up had its roots at the Presidency of Gerald Ford#Accession, beginning of Ford's presidency in August 1974. As was the case when Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry S. Truman succeeded to the presidency intra-term, in 1963 and in 1945 respectively, under similarly strained sets of circumstances, Ford inherited President Richard Nixon's cabinet and Executive Office of the President of the United States, staff of presidential advisers. Over the course of several months, Ford slowly replaced several Nixon holdovers with his own appointees. These two groups often clashed, and the resulting acrimony often got in the way of policy making. The changes were: *Henry Kissinger was fired as National Security Advisor (United States), National Security Advisor (Kissinger retained his post as United States Secretary of State, Secretary of State), and replaced by Brent Scowcroft. *William Colby was fired as Director of Central Intelligence and replaced by List of ambassadors of the United States to China, Ambassador (and future President of the United States, President) George H. W. Bush. Colby was offered the post of United States Permanent Representative to NATO, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, but declined. *James Schlesinger was fired as United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense and replaced by White House Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld's deputy and protégé, future Vice President Dick Cheney, moved up to be the Chief of Staff. *Under pressure from Republican Party (United States), Republican Party conservatives, Vice President of the United States, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller announced that he would not run for election as Ford's running mate in 1976 United States presidential election, 1976. Subsequent to these events, Rogers Morton was also replaced by Elliot Richardson as United States Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Commerce.Impact and legacy
Various newspaper and magazine articles at the time identified Donald Rumsfeld as having orchestrated these events. At the time, Ford said he alone was responsible for firings. Later, he expressed regret: "I was angry at myself for showing cowardice in not saying to the ultraconservatives, 'It's going to be Ford and Rockefeller, whatever the consequences.'"See also
*The Saturday Night Massacre, a similarly named event during the Nixon Administration.References
{{Reflist Ford administration controversies November 1975 events in the United States