Danforth tapped for U.N.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush nominated John Danforth Friday, the former Republican senator from Missouri who has most recently served as special envoy to Sudan, to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. If confirmed, he will replace John Negroponte, who moves on to become America's top envoy to Iraq after the U.S.-led occupation ends on June 30.

An ordained Episcopal minister and an heir to the Ralston-Purina fortune, Danforth is a widely respected politician -- often referred to as "Saint Jack" during his Senate years -- who appeals to the religious right as well as some Democrats. But he has limited diplomatic experience, former colleagues and friends said. Filling the shoes of Negroponte, a deft career diplomat who had major impact at the U.N., will not be easy for the Missouri politician, they say.

"He hasn't had any great experience in diplomacy, but knowing how to work the crowd in the U.S. Senate teaches you how to work the crowd anywhere," said former ambassador Robert Oakley, who worked with Danforth's peace mission in Sudan and has talked with him about the U.N. nomination. "He doesn't know much about the U.N., but he's a quick study and has a good staff. He is looking forward to the challenge. . . . I suspect he will be looking to show that the U.S. can work with others."

A former senior administration who worked with Danforth said he is a "talented guy who's been around" but also expressed concern that he isn't imaginative in either diplomacy or peace-making, and may not pick up the nuances that are pivotal in diplomatic dealings.

Besides 18 years in the Senate from 1976 to 1995, Danforth is best known for using a reputation for personal integrity to resolve both domestic controversies and international conflicts.

In 2001, Bush nominated Danforth to help mediate the decades-old Sudan civil war. Oakley described him as a "man of principle who got something done that no one else could do and did it quietly. He worked behind the scenes and led from the rear."

But foreign policy experts said Danforth often did not personally engage. "His long experience in brokering agreements in the Senate should enable him to be confirmed faster than many others, but some of his limitations came into view in Sudan, including lack of engagement in details of the negotiations, which he left to staff people, and could be a liability at the U.N.," said John Prendergast, special adviser on Africa to the International Crisis Group, a non- partisan conflict monitoring group.

Danforth almost personally salvaged the controversial Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas by defending his protege after Thomas was charged with sexual harassment by former employee Anita Hill. Thomas, a conservative black Republican lambasted by civil rights groups, had worked as an assistant to Danforth when he was Missouri's attorney general. Both were Yale Law School graduates.

In his book "Resurrection: The Confirmation of Clarence Thomas," Danforth described praying with Thomas and their wives in his office and playing "Onward Christian Soldiers" on a tape recorder before Thomas made his final defense at the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Danforth, who was briefly considered as a vice presidential running mate by the Bush campaign in 2000, was appointed by the Clinton administration to head an inquiry into the 1993 deaths of 80 Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.

After a 14-month probe costing $17 million, Danforth concluded the FBI had "nothing to hide." U.S. agents had not fired into the Davidian complex and were not responsible for the subsequent fire. But he did criticize FBI and Justice Department personnel for lack of cooperation with his investigation, which he said undermined public confidence in government.

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