THE CREEPING THEOCRACY:

Quiet, effective John Danforth offered reins as U.N. ambassador (SIOBHAN McDONOUGH, 6/04/04, Associated Press)

By his own admission, John Danforth is capable of a "table-pounding, shouting, red in the face, profane rage." But that's a much less familiar side to the man nominated by President Bush as U.N. ambassador than the thoughtful, mild-mannered "St. Jack."

Painfully polite, privileged and old-fashioned, the former Missouri senator won admiration from fellow Republicans and opposing Democrats alike during his years in Washington.

Presidents of both parties have turned to him as a troubleshooter - he led a Clinton-era investigation of the Waco affair and President Bush named him special envoy for peace in Sudan.

An Episcopalian minister, he's known for being principled to the point of piety, a trait that earned him the St. Jack nickname, usually uttered with affection.

But he's got a temper and it came out during one of the hallmarks of his political career - when he went to the wall for his friend Clarence Thomas, fighting to get him confirmed to the Supreme Court, in a bruising series of hearings that shook up the senator, the nominee and all those around him.