Upon being told of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarked, “Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.”

I believe that many in the innermost depths of the deep state will be dutifully repeating those reassuring words after hearing of President-elect Donald Trump’s potential choice of ExxonMobil CEO Rex W. Tillerson as secretary of state. Besides his long-standing Exxon Mobil connection, Tillerson has impeccable establishment bonefides as a trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, hobnobbing with the likes of

• Richard Armitage, President, Armitage International
• Othman Benjelloun,* President and CEO, BMCE Bank
• Erskine Bowles, President Emeritus, University of North Carolina
• William E. Brock, Counselor and Trustee, CSIS
• Harold Brown, Counselor and Trustee, CSIS
• Zbigniew K. Brzezinski, Counselor and Trustee, CSIS
• Sue M. Cobb, Principal, Cobb Partners, LLC and former U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica
• William S. Cohen, Chairman and CEO, The Cohen Group
• Ralph A. Cossa, President, Pacific Forum CSIS
• Lester Crown,* Chairman, Henry Crown and Company
• William Daley, Managing Partner and Head of U.S. Operations, Argentière Capital
• Andreas C. Dracopoulos, Director and Co-President, Stavros Niarchos Foundation
• Stanley F. Druckenmiller, Chairman and CEO, Duquesne Family Office, LLC
• Martin Edelman, Senior Of Counsel, Paul Hastings
• Jonathan B. Fairbanks, Founder and Partner, Global Energy Capital
• Henrietta H. Fore, Chairman and CEO, Holsman International
• Michael P. Galvin, Cofounder and President, Harrison Street Capital, LLC
• Helene D. Gayle, CEO, McKinsey Social Initiative
• Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO, C.V. Starr & Company, Inc.
• John H. Hammergren, Chairman, President, and CEO, McKesson Corporation
• Linda W. Hart, Vice Chairman, President, and CEO, Hart Group, Inc.
• Benjamin W. Heineman Jr., Trustee and Distinguished Senior Adviser, CSIS
• John B. Hess, CEO, Hess Corporation
• Carla A. Hills, Chair and CEO, Hills & Company
• Elizabeth Holmes, Chairman, CEO, and Founder, Theranos
• Seok-Hyun Hong, Chairman and CEO, JoongAng Media Network
• Ray Hunt, Executive Chairman, Hunt Consolidated, Inc.
• E. Neville Isdell, Former Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
• James L. Jones Jr., President and CEO, Jones Group International
• William T. Keevan, Senior Advisor, Chess Consulting LLC
• Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
• Fred Khosravi, Cofounder and Managing Director, Incept LLC
• Ronald Kirk, Senior Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
• Henry A. Kissinger, Counselor and Trustee, CSIS
• Kenneth G. Langone, Founder and CEO, Invemed Associates, LLC
• Howard Leach,* President, Leach Capital LLC
• Donald B. Marron, Founder and Chairman, Lightyear Capital
• W. James McNerney Jr., Former Chairman, The Boeing Company
• Joseph S. Nye Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
• Leon Panetta, Chairman, The Panetta Institute for Public Policy
• William K. Reilly, Chairman Emeritus, World Wildlife Fund
• Charles A. Sanders, Chairman Emeritus, Project HOPE
• Bob Schieffer, Former Moderator, Face the Nation, CBS; and Former CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent
• Brent Scowcroft, President, The Scowcroft Group
• Andrew C. Taylor, Executive Chairman, Enterprise Holdings, Inc
• Rex W. Tillerson, Chairman and CEO, Exxon Mobil Corporation
• Frances F. Townsend, Executive Vice President, MacAndrews and Forbes Incorporated
• Romesh Wadhwani, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Symphony Technology Group.

The Best of Charles Burris