Obama White House, Back to the Future

President Obama introduces William Daley as his new chief of staff in the East Room of the White House.Brendan Smialowski/Bloomberg News President Obama introduces William Daley as his new chief of staff in the East Room of the White House.

The president hailed William Daley first, describing him as a “man of rare effectiveness” and saying that he “embodies the values of hard work and fair play.”

A bit later, the president heaped praise on Gene Sperling for his economic knowledge and his penchant for working all hours, with very little sleep.

“I rely on him heavily — on his knowledge and skill, his mind and his heart,” the president told reporters as he nominated Mr. Sperling to head the National Economic Council. “He certainly shows that the work ethic is alive and well in America.”

It was December 1996. And the president was Bill Clinton, who was appointing both men to prominent posts in his administration. The back-to-the-future moment was caught by the C-Span cameras (see video below) to be watched almost 15 years later as history repeats itself.

On Thursday, President Obama stood on a stage and introduced Mr. Daley as the new White House chief of staff. Mr. Obama hailed his “tremendous experience, his strong values and his forward-looking vision.”

And on Friday afternoon, Mr. Obama will appear with Mr. Sperling as he appoints – or, really, reappoints – him to be the chairman of his National Economic Council. Mr. Obama is likely to comment on Mr. Sperling’s economic prowess and his continued lack of sleep.

The appointments add to the already significant ranks of Clintonites in Mr. Obama’s administration.

The president’s secretary of state is, of course, Mr. Clinton’s wife. Mr. Obama’s budget director, Jack Lew, was Mr. Clinton’s budget director at the end of his second term. Larry Summers, who just stepped down as the head of Mr. Obama’s National Economic Council, served as Treasury Secretary for Mr. Clinton. Rahm Emanuel, who served as chief of staff for two years under Mr. Obama, was a political adviser for Mr. Clinton.

And now, Mr. Sperling (who has already been working for Mr. Obama as a counselor at the Treasury Department), and Mr. Daley will join the ranks of Clinton veterans who have migrated back to the White House.

“You, Mr. President, are proving your strength, your leadership, your vision during a most difficult time for our nation and for the world,” Mr. Daley said Wednesday, his face a bit fuller and the jowls a bit deeper. “You have also shown through your example that public service is an honorable calling, and I am pleased to answer your call.”

The observation that Mr. Obama’s administration is filled with former Clinton staffers is not new. And the president’s team is quick to point out that some of the most senior advisers were not part of Team Clinton, either in the previous administrations or during the long and divisive 2008 campaign.

But as Mr. Daley was announced, the old C-Span video of his announcement as commerce secretary reemerged on the internet. (Most people noted the moment in the 1996 video when Mr. Daley fainted, causing a brief stir.)

Mr. Summers was on the stage, as was Bill Richardson, who later became the governor of New Mexico and would become Mr. Obama’s first pick to be commerce secretary. Dan Tarullo was being promoted by Mr. Clinton that day; today he is on the Federal Reserve Board — an Obama appointee.

As the camera pans across the stage, you catch glimpses of Carol Browner, Mr. Clinton’s EPA administrator who is now Mr. Obama’s chief environmental adviser. And then you see Leon Pannetta. In those years he was Mr. Clinton’s chief of staff. Now he is Mr. Obama’s CIA director.

In some ways, the similarities should come as no surprise. Mr. Clinton’s administration lasted for eight years and there have been no other Democratic presidencies since that Mr. Obama could have drawn from.

And such recycling of top talent happened with Republican administrations as well. President Bush tapped Dick Cheney, his father’s secretary of defense, to be his vice president. And he picked Colin Powell, who served as the chairman of the joint chiefs under the first president Bush, to be his secretary of state.

Still, as some of Mr. Obama’s longtime advisers leave the White House, his decision to revamp his staff by tapping more veterans of Mr. Clinton’s administration is notable. To many, the move suggests he plans to move in a more moderate direction, if only in recognition of the political realities he now faces with a divided Congress.

Third Way, a think tank with many ties to Mr. Clinton and his administration, is devoted to pushing a centrist agenda. Mr. Daley is a member of their board of directors.

In a statement shortly after White House officials confirmed Mr. Daley’s selection, Third Way issued a statement calling the choice “brilliant.” They also released comments that Mr. Daley had made last year upon joining the board.

“We’ve really got to listen carefully to the public. Voters are not re-embracing conservative ideology. But we must acknowledge that the left’s agenda has not won the support of a majority of Americans — and, based on that recognition, we must steer a more moderate course.”