Trouble

Some of President Clinton’s choices who have had problems in the confirmation process:

Zoe Baird: The attorney who was Clinton’s first choice to be attorney general also became the first of a series of nominees to fall victim to the “nanny problem.” She had not paid Social Security taxes for a housekeeper - an illegal immigrant - as required by law. Baird asked the White House to withdraw her nomination.

Lani Guinier: A Clinton classmate at Yale University Law School, she was Clinton’s choice to head the Justice Department’s civil rights division. She also had not paid taxes for a domestic worker. And her professional writings became fodder for critics. With the nomination in trouble, the White House asked her to withdraw.

Bobby Ray Inman: A retired admiral and former head of the National Security Agency, Inman was Clinton’s first choice to succeed Les Aspin as secretary of defense. He withdrew in the glare of public scrutiny he said had become “too brutal.”

Kimba Wood: The nomination of the federal district judge to be attorney general never went forward after the disclosure that she had hired an illegal immigrant as a baby sitter. She had paid the required Social Security taxes and broke no laws.

Dan Glickman: The choice of Glickman, a former member of Congress, to head the Agriculture Department was delayed for months while the FBI checked allegations against him. It was sent to the Senate on Friday.

Henry Foster: Clinton’s choice to be surgeon general faces a tough Senate fight because of complaints from abortion foes that he performed the procedure during his long medical career.