A Secretary doesn't need to be an expert: they need to be a terrific manager/administrator, with a nimble intellect.
These qualities disqualify Ben Carson.
Wikipedia sez:
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as Vice Chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency."[179] Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him."[179] He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.[180]
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.[181] During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.[15]
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination.[182] On March 2, 2017, Carson was confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote.[15]
Tenure
Carson at the 2019 State of the Union
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude".[183] In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".[184]
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated.[185][186] Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts.[187] Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.[185]
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.[188]
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.[189]
Carson speaks in 2019
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges".[190] The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain".[190][191] Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings.[190] In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.[192]
During congressional testimony in May 2019, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo.[193][194] In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.[195]
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.[196]
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party.[197][198] He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment.[199][200][201] He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.[202]
I'd written "calm, articulate demeanor"
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