Bob Woodward: Obama Needs 'Authority Figure' to Replace Hagel

President Barack Obama needs an "authority figure" to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, says The Washington Post's Bob Woodward.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday,"  Woodward admitted such a person will be hard to find, but he suggested Colin Powell, President George W. Bush's secretary of State, who would be viewed favorably by other countries.

Woodward said Hagel was a "soulmate" to Obama over their opposition to war. Both favored getting U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan and not getting into any new wars.

But, Woodward added, "Now we have the ISIS problem and the new wars the president's declared.

"This is a tough one for Obama. He’s got to find an authority figure. He’s got to find somebody who immediately people will say, 'Ah, that’s a leader,'" said Woodward.

Host Chris Wallace noted that Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island and former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy both would fit the bill, but that Obama seems to want to run the Defense Department from the White House, so no authority figure would want to take that job.

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