By appointing a record number of minorities and women, President Clinton delivered his campaign promise to appoint a Cabinet that "looks more like America."
But it may actually look more like a suburban cocktail party, according to our examination of the personal finances of Clinton's Cabinet secretaries.Though Clinton has appointed four blacks, two Hispanics and three women to his Cabinet, his determination to achieve "diversity" is apparently only skin deep. The Clinton Cabinet is flooded with multimillionaires, even though the per capita income in America is $17,592. That fact would obviously not be earth-shattering news in a typical administration. After all, past Cabinets have been the exclusive domain of wealthy white males.
After poring through the personal finances of all the secretaries in both Cabinets, our associate Ed Henry discovered that despite the diversity of Clinton's Cabinet one color still reigns supreme: green. Here are the highlights:
The lone "pauper" of the Clinton administration may be Pentagon chief Les Aspin, who did not list any assets. An official at the Office of Government Ethics said that means that Aspin's assets are smaller than the minimum reporting requirements.
Clinton's men at the Treasury and State departments have the deepest pockets. Lloyd Bentsen is the richest of the Clinton Cabinet - with assets of $4.97 million to $11.025 million plus a blind trust worth over $1 million. Secretary of State Warren Christopher has assets totaling $4.2 million to $9.2 million.
- Jesse Brown is the first black to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. The former director of the nonprofit Disabled American Veterans is worth between $813,000 to $1.8 million. Brown accrued over $50,000 in vacation and sick leave at the not-for-profit group.
- Donna Shalala, Clinton's secretary of Health and Human Services, is worth over $600,000 - including stock in Tootsie Roll.
- Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is worth between $1 million and $2.89 million. He owns stock in such disparate companies as Heinz, IBM and The New York Times.
- Attorney General Janet Reno may be emerging as the classiest member of the Cabinet for her courageous stand during the Waco crisis. But she is left in the dust when it comes to net worth with assets totaling $147,000 to $430,000.