The first one hundred days of a presidency are always scrutinized in the US press as an indicator of how the other 3 years and 265 days will go. Each president is put under a lot of pressure to accomplish something significant during that time, and Obama is no different.

He started out pretty well on Inauguration Day. His speech was as inspiring as always and there were many important people assembled in person to see him sworn in. The most important line he said, which matched the best with his following actions, was “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

He also fumbled the swearing, making himself the fifth president to misspeak when taking the oath. He took it again the next day in the White House, also becoming the seventh president to retake the oath for various reasons.

His first order of business has been to get a stimulus package passed by both houses of Congress, something which has given him his first setback. His response has been something rarely seen in a president - he has gotten back on the campaign trail to create more support for his stimulus plan.

His cabinet choices have also been rarely seen in a president. He has seemed to almost bend over backwards to appoint a diverse set of people from many different parties, interests, and groups. But they all have one thing in common they are imminently qualified to lead their respective areas.

Some of the cabinet picks made by Obama are vitally important to Korea, while others are relatively unimportant. One of the most important ones Defense Secretary Robert Gates, since Korea is so deeply involved with the US military, the defense secretary always affects this country. Also, since there are many Korean immigrants to the US, the Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will help shape policies that impact many Koreans. Because of ongoing trade negotiations between Korea and the US about the KORUS Free Trade Agreement, Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg will likely affect the peninsula in some way. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already been working at her new post for over two months and will visit Korea on February 15th. These four are the cabinet picks that will affect Korea the most. Let's take a closer look at them.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates

 

Robert Gates was part of the first round of announcements that then- President-elect Obama gave out for his cabinet on December 1, 2008. Robert Gates was the defense secretary for the Bush administration, and Obama asked him to stay on for his administration. In a political sense it shows that there will not be too radical of a shift in military policy between the administrations. Gates said in his official press conference that he was “honored to serve President-elect Obama.”

Robert Gates took over after Donald Rumsfeld resigned in 2006. Bush brought him on to get a fresh perspective, it was said. At the time, he was president of Texas A&M University, and before that was director of the CIA from 1991-1993. He spent most of his career in the CIA, most likely using his Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet History that he received from Georgetown University to good effect.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu

 

Steven Chu was the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab when nominated by President Obama. Obama named him “uniquely suited” for the role, saying he would ask Chu to play a lead part in a “sustained, all-hands-on-deck effort” to address energy problems. Chu is a scientist in the truest sense, having won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997 for his work in laser cooling of atoms. He has been hailed as a breath of fresh air for an Energy department badly in need of reform.

Mr. Chu has been speaking out lately against global warming and presenting talks in which he urges an investment in energy efficiency. He has spoken about nanotech photovoltaics, microbic and cellulosic biofuels, and chemical photosynthesis. He is a strong supporter for nuclear power and has often said that abandoning fossil fuels is the right choice.

Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg

 

Senator Judd Gregg was serving as a US senator for New Hampshire when asked by Obama to be Commerce Secretary. He is one of Obama's crossparty nominees, as a Republican. He has also served as the Governor of New Hampshire from 1988 to 1993, a New Hampshire Representative from 1981 to 1989, and had a seat on the Executive Council of New Hampshire from 1978- 1980. Before that, he was a businessman and an attorney.

President Obama said that Gregg will be an “able, persuasive ambassador for industry,” and that he is a “master of reaching across the aisle to get things done.” However, that does not mean that Gregg supports all of Obama's policies. He is somewhat of a maverick, once having supported the elimination of the commerce secretary post that he is now nominated to lead.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

 

Hillary Clinton made history by being the first woman to win wide support in the run for president, although she is the twelfth woman to ever attempt it. Previous female candidates did not last long in the running, however.

President Obama's nomination of Clinton for Secretary of State is another olive branch of peace similar to the one offered to the Republican Party through the nomination of Senator Gregg. With the addition of his former political opponent to his cabinet, it is being said that Obama has created another “team of rivals,” a term coined to describe President Lincoln's Cabinet.

Hillary Clinton has wasted no time in working as Secretary of State, planning her first trip to Asia. She will visit the region starting February 15, and plans to confront China on civil rights issues.