To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. PHOTO BY DAVID BRODY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY FROM FLORIDA TO FEMA a supporting role [to] state and local emergency management; it cannot supplant these efforts.” Colleagues say they expect Fugate to refocus federal attention from immigration and homeland security issues to FEMA’s earlier mission of dealing with nature’s terrorists. If friends have any concerns over his future success—and there aren’t many—it’s whether the laid back and self-effacing leader can do what he does best given the often-Byzantine world of federal bureaucracy and Washington politics. Despite a national reputation and a slew of awards, friends and colleagues say the water-loving kayaker and die-hard University of Florida Gator football fan is now and forever more comfortable in a firehouse than the White House. “If they let Craig be Craig, everything’s going to be just fine,” said Myers, Fugate’s mentor and Florida emergency management predecessor. “He’s the best there is, and the country will benefit from it if they just let him do his job.” “He won’t succeed if he is not the Craig Fugate he was here in Florida,” Sallade agreed. “I think he will be.” Colleagues also say they expect Fugate to bring the lessons learned from Florida with him to the national stage. Topping the list will be the idea that citizens have a responsibility to look after themselves, their family and friends. “I am confident he will advance reforms that strengthen our nation’s preparedness and bottom-up approach to emergency management,” former Gov. Jeb Bush said after Fugate’s nomination. Fugate greets Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, at his confirmation hearing. Analysis When considering Fugate’s potential direction for FEMA, one need only look at his efforts in Florida, where planning and practice have become the order of the day. “Through hurricanes and tornadoes and other natural disasters, Craig has been a steady and capable hand,” said current Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) upon Fugate’s nomination. “While he will be leaving his post here in Florida, we look forward to working with him at the federal level.” In the end, however, as much as one plans and prepares, catastrophes happen and even the most powerful nation in the world will stagger in their wake. “There is a tendency to think that we are a very sophisticated modern society and disasters shouldn’t be this inconvenient for those of us not directly impacted,” Fugate has said. “The reality is no nation is that well immune to catastrophic disaster.” HST Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters Homeland Security Today Magazine | June 2009 33