When The Washington Post reviewed Bob Woodward’s Bush Administration exposé, The War Within, the title it gave to the review was short and sweet: “Yes Men.” According to Woodward’s account of the internal dealings of the executive staff, few were willing to disagree with the President, Vice President Cheney, or Rumsfeld, and the nation ultimately paid the price of hastily-made decisions.

The incoming Administration is shaping up to be decidedly different. With his Cabinet picks so far, Barack Obama has cast aside the presidential yes-men in favor of qualified leaders who are willing- if not likely- to tell him when he is wrong.

It began with his selection Joe Biden, whom Obama said he selected because he wanted a number two who would be willing to disagree with him. And disagree Biden has. His former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination has criticized him repeatedly, leading to the release of a GOP attack ad that compiled all of Biden’s less than favorable opinions of Obama and his policy proposals. And after 35 years of making his own decisions in the Senate, is Biden really going to keep his legendarily frank mouth shut?

But Biden isn’t the only former presidential rival to end up on the Obama team. Bill Richardson had plenty to say in his opposition to the President-elect. They disagree on a range of issues, from guns to how quickly the US withdraw combat operations in Iraq.

And little needs to be said to drive home the point that Obama’s chief primary opponent is (to say the least) strong-willed. Incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a storied reputation for resisting control from handlers, a trait she shares with her former President husband. Her criticism and opposition to Obama was the most vocal, the most notable, and the most stringent of any he’s received in the past two years. Indeed, she was always Obama’s biggest obstacle to the White House, far more so than John McCain.

Another glaring example: Bush Administration holdover Robert Gates. The Secretary of Defense is a lifelong Republican who- along with Gen. David Petraeus- salvaged what was a failed military strategy under Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq. He staunchly opposed timetables for withdrawal, and he supported the United States’ efforts in the region from the start. Obama’s National Security Advisor, retired Marine four-star General Jim Jones, has disagreed with Obama on almost as many issues as Gates.

Finally, Obama’s entire economic team are actual economists. They’re not party loyalists, or wealthy private sector Obama donors. These men and women - including incoming ERA chief Paul Volcker, incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and incoming CEA director Christina Romer - have spent their careers studying economic trends, and are highly unlikely to allow political interest to override their practical and acadmeic understanding of financial systems.

When General George Marshall was about to advise Franklin Roosevelt, he asked Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau for advice. Morgenthau said, “Stand right up and tell him what you think. There are too few people who do it, and he likes it.” Obama looks to be that type of president. And if that’s the case, the United States can rest easy knowing that

he has assembled one of the most experienced, expert teams in American history.