Obama: Second administration would be as diverse as first term

Dismissing the notion that his second term administration is increasingly looking an all-male club with little diversity, US President Barack Obama, urged his critics to wait till his entire team is in place before arriving at any conclusion.

“I’m very proud that in the first four years we had as diverse, if not more diverse, a White House and a Cabinet than any in history,” Obama told presspersons at a White House news conference, in response to a question on the criticism that his second term has fewer women in the White House and Cabinet.

He said, “I intend to continue that, because it turns out that when you look for the very best people, given the incredible diversity of this country, you’re going to end up with a diverse staff and a diverse team”.

Obama added diversity helps to create more effective policymaking and better decision-making because it brings different perspectives to the table.

He emphasised the person who probably had the most influence on foreign policy during his first term was a woman.

The people who were in charge of moving forward the most important domestic initiative, health care, were women.

He asserted that the person in charge of US homeland security was a woman.

“My two appointments to the Supreme Court were women, and 50 per cent of my White House staff were women. So I think people should expect that that record will be built upon during the next four years,” he said.

He said, “Now, what, I’ve made four appointments so far? And one women — admittedly, a high-profile one — is leaving — has already left the administration, and I have made a replacement“.

He added that everybody should wait until they’ve seen all my appointments, who’s in the White House staff and who’s in my Cabinet before they rush to judgement. He was referring to the departure of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, from his Cabinet.

“We’re not going backwards, we’re going forward,” Obama said.

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