Clinton in no hurry to pick NEH head

Washington insiders said this week that they do not know when President Clinton will name a new chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It has been widely rumored in Washington and Philadelphia for the past six weeks that University President Sheldon Hackney is Clinton's probable choice to head the NEH, a federal agency that funds humanities projects nationwide. But members of the media affairs offices at the White House, the NEH and National Endowment for the Arts all said recently that, at this point, only Clinton knows when the announcement will come and who will be named. Lucy Hackney, the president's wife, said last night that the president still has not been interviewed for the position. And Hackney himself has denied throughout that he has heard from the White House. Clinton has no deadline for naming a NEH chairperson -- a post with a standard four-year term regardless of changes in presidential administrations. And if the recent past is any guide, there is no sure way to predict when Clinton will announce his choice. Some recent presidents have named their NEH nominations quickly, while others have taken longer. During his first term, President Reagan appointed a new chairperson to the endowment the same month the post became vacant. William Bennett was appointed by Reagan in a recess appointment, which did not require the usual necessary Senate confirmation. After Bennett resigned in February 1985 and became U.S. Secretary of Education, an acting chairperson -- John Agresto -- served for 16 months. Lynne Cheney became NEH head in May 1986. In 1990 President Bush nominated Cheney to serve a second term. But when Bush lost the 1992 presidential election, Cheney resigned from her NEH position. Since January 20, an acting NEH chairperson -- Jerry Martin -- has been heading the agency. Right now, there is no way to know whether Clinton will follow the lead of Reagan's first term action and appoint a chairperson immediately or wait 16 months as Reagan did for his second NEH appointment. John Hammer, chairperson of the National Humanities Alliance, has been saying since February that he has heard Clinton will announce his nominations for chairpersons of the National Endowment for the Arts, Museum Services and the NEH at the same time, but the White House will not confirm the rumor. But the NEA recently announced a new acting chairperson because the previous acting head was not a "cabinet-level, Senate-confirmed person" and therefore was ineligible to serve, a NEA spokesperson said yesterday. The spokesperson said she does not know when a permanent NEA chairperson will be announced but said Clinton "should be naming someone in due time."

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