For all the BS that's been going around, perhaps the real reason Okeefe left was that the strain of the job was getting to him. "NASA Administrator" is listed in the "Prune book" of Washington jobs for good reasons...

Consider the conflicting demands that are put to you... Most people do not care much about sending men to Mars, as they know now that it is not "Earth-like". The few who can not accept that fact come up with unrealistic proposals which they are quite vocal about, proposals usually featuring fantastic launch systems and physics of one sort or another. For example, the recent sub-orbital fight by Rutan is bally-hooed as being the privte sector coming to space, when it amounted to nothing more than an excellent piece of engineering... the same flight was proposed in 1947 using modified V-2's. It's 2004.

These same fantasists further feel that NASA spending any money on anything other than manned Mars fight is a waste of money, and they attack those programs, and it further reduces pubic support for NASA...

Of course, no one calls them on this, as it is not popular and will sell no eye time...

Then you have the astounding incompetence, and the political lobbying, and all of the rest of it... including the bureaucracy, and consider what happened to Hubbard at Ames...

Bottom line, perhpas OKeefe just realized what was happening to him and walked before he became "Leiutenant Loouie", the way that Goldin became "Captain Crazy"... It looks to me like the demands of the job have evolved to the point where they produce mental stresses that will get to you one way or another, and that's when if you have sense you want to step back and leave and spend more time with your family...

Not only does "No one care", no one wants the job, and anyone who does may not be equipped with the required engineering, political, and leadership skills to do it...

ep