Clinton picks experience before charisma: Secretary of State

WARREN CHRISTOPHER, 67: A leading Los Angeles lawyer with long-established roots on the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. deputy attorney-general in Johnson administration and served as number two in the State Department, under Cyrus Vance, for President Carter. Strongly concerned with human rights, he worked to negotiate the release of the Tehran hostages and headed the Independent Commission investigating the Rodney King beating that led to Los Angeles riots. Oversaw the choice of Mr Clinton's running mate, then appointed to manage Mr Clinton's transition after election. Considered the consummate diplomat, with a skill for cool, lawyerly argument, he cuts a formal, buttoned-up figure, not partial to gossip or intrigue. Critics suggest he will make a superb foreign policy manager, but is not a policy-shaper and does not have the personality flair of some previous secretaries of state.