AMERICAN ELECTION: Clinton reshuffles his governing pack

Exodus of cabinet is one of many headaches, writes Rupert Cornwell

Fresh from his resounding re-election victory, President Clinton yesterday set about relaunching America's foreign policy, complete with a major Cabinet shake-up that will see new Secretaries of State and Defense, and probably a new central intelligence chief and White House adviser for national security.

Returning to Washington after a night of joyous celebration in Little Rock, Mr Clinton was expected to approve US participation in an extended Nato peacekeeping operation in Bosnia - a subject studiously avoided throughout the campaign - and perhaps strike a compromise over the future of Boutros Boutros Ghali, the UN Secretary-General whose request for a new term had been vetoed by the President.

The first Cabinet member to announce his resignation is expected to be Warren Christopher, the Secretary of State. He is likely to be followed by William Perry at the Pentagon, whose most likely replacement is John Deutch, head of the CIA. Anthony Lake, Mr Clinton's national security adviser, is also expected to leave his post.

The departure of top officials at the start of a second term is a Washington fixture. But rarely has the exodus been as great as now, a reflection of the hectic and sometimes chaotic Clinton style. Leon Panetta, as White House Chief of Staff, the President's closest aide, wants to return to his native California, while "burnt out" senior adviser, George Stephanopoulos, among the last survivors of the epic campaign of 1992, is also seeking a quieter life. Other Cabinet members, including Hazel Leary, Energy Secretary, Mickey Kantor, Commerce Secretary have said they will go, andJanet Reno, the Attorney-General, may also step down.

Possible successors to Mr Christopher include Washington's present Ambassador to the UN, Madeleine Albright, the current Ambassador to Japan, Walter Mondale, or George Mitchell, the former Senator who now chairs the deadlocked Northern Ireland peace talks. But the President could also look to a Republican, like Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, or perhaps former Maine Senator, William Cohen, in the hope of encouraging a more bipartisan spirit at the Capitol.

Mr Clinton's triumph was bitter-sweet. By carrying 31 states and the district of Columbia and amassing 379 electoral college votes, he became the first Democrat since Frank- lin D. Roosevelt to be re-elected to a second term. But in securing 49 per cent of the vote, he fell short of the outright majority he craved.

Nor were the Presidential coat tails long or strong enough for the Democrats to recapture Congress from the Republicans - a failure which guarantees more torture of the White House by investigative committee on Whitewater, the FBI files and campaign finance, as soon as the 105th Congress convenes in January.

The final results showed the Republican candidate, Bob Dole, with 19 states worth 159 electoral votes, and 42 per cent of the popular vote. The Texan billionaire Ross Perot, this time managed only 9 per cent, less than half his 19 per cent in 1992, but sufficient to qualify his reform party for federal funding in the next election.

The Republicans, however, extended their Senate majority by at least two seats, and retained the House with a reduced majority.

Well aware of public distaste for feuding and "gridlock" in Washington, Republican leaders in Congress were outwardly amiable yesterday: "We have an obligation to reach out to the newly elected President," said the Speaker, Newt Gingrich, again urging a balanced budget and a bipartisan effort to rein in Medicare and Medicaid, the fast-expanding federal health care programmes.

Speaking on a night of joyous celebration in Little Rock, Mr Clinton, too, pleaded for unity and compromise. More relevant, though, was the warning of Trent Lott, the Senate majority leader: "I assume there will be an independent counsel," he said, referring to the dubious foreign financial contributions to Democratic coffers that caused controversy in the closing stages of the campaign.

That alone guarantees one more thorn in the administration's side. The real danger, however, remains the special Whitewater prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, who may be about to bring more indictments now that the election campaign is over - conceivably against the First Lady herself, if Mr Starr believes that Mrs Clinton has perjured herself before the Whitewater grand jury here.

The Clintons' troubles, in short, are not over. For Mr Dole, however, defeat was the end of a 45-year political career.