toledoblade.com --

President Bush has found a "steady guy" to be his national security adviser in selecting native Toledoan Stephen Hadley for the job, his mother says.

Suzanne Hadley said yesterday she isn't surprised that her 57-year-old son is poised to step into one the most powerful roles in the Bush Administration. The President announced yesterday that Mr. Hadley will be promoted from his position as deputy national security adviser to replace Condoleezza Rice, who will become secretary of state.

"He's a pretty steady guy," said Mrs. Hadley, who lives in Cleveland with his father, Robert, a retired engineer. "He's a great kid."

Stephen Hadley was born in Toledo Hospital in 1947 and his family initially lived on Willys Parkway in West Toledo. The Hadleys relocated to Hempstead Road in Ottawa Hills, where he attended elementary school and middle school. Before Mr. Hadley began high school, the family moved to South Euclid in the Cleveland suburbs.

It was no surprise to Mr. Hadley's family that he chose a career in public service.

"He had been active in student government all along," Mrs. Hadley said. "He always realized that he wanted to live in Washington and things opened for him."

Mr. Hadley, who now lives in Washington with his wife and two daughters, graduated from Brush High School in 1965 in the top 3 percent of his class and was a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. He earned his bachelor of arts at Cornell University in 1969 and his law degree at Yale Law School in 1972 before serving in the U.S. Navy until 1975.

Walter LaFeber, a professor of history at Cornell who knew Mr. Hadley as a student, described him as "studious," "direct," and "respected."

"The integrity of the Bush Administration went up considerably with this appointment and the trust people ought to have," said Professor LaFeber.

Before becoming assistant secretary of defense for international policy in 1989, Mr. Hadley served in a number of foreign policy roles, including President Reagan's review board on U.S. arms sales to Iran, President Ford's National Security Council staff, and comptroller of the Department of Defense.

In 2001, Mr. Hadley was appointed deputy national security adviser. In that role, he worked alongside Ms. Rice in advising President Bush on terrorism and the war in Iraq.

His term in that post, though, included challenges. He accepted blame for Mr. Bush's use of questionable information about Saddam Hussein seeking uranium in Nigeria during the President's State of the Union address in 2003.

He also defended the Bush Administration against allegations from former terrorism advisor Richard Clarke that defense officials ignored terrorism before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Mr. Hadley was a partner at the Washington law firm of Shea & Gardner. There, he befriended Ben Boley, a fellow partner at the firm.

Mr. Boley said he wasn't surprised to learn that his friend was selected to be the administration's chief adviser on national security. He is confident the nation is in good hands.

"You can count on him in a crunch," Mr. Boley said. "He's a marvelous person to get along with."

Contact Steve Eder at:
seder@theblade.com
or 419-724-6728.

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