Dismissing rumors that he might be in contention to head the Department of Labor, Dick Gephardt, former longtime leader of the House Democrats (and now a lobbyist), says he hasn't been approached by the Obama transition and isn't joining the president-elect's cabinet in any capacity. "I want [Obama] to have a great cabinet and succeed beyond any expectations. I'll help from the outside," Gephardt tells National Journal.

Here is Julie Kosterlitz's piece from our current issue:

Since retiring in 2005 from Congress, where he represented Missouri's 3rd Congressional District for 28 years and led House Democrats for the last 14 of those, Dick Gephardt has all but dropped out of politics -- and he has never looked back. He is enjoying his second career as a lobbyist and labor-relations consultant, both at his own firm, the Gephardt Group -- where his team includes his son and one of his daughters -- and as a "strategic adviser" to lobbying giant DLA Piper.

"It really was time to turn the page and do something completely different" at a less grueling pace, Gephardt says. He and his wife, Jane, spend much of the summer at their home in California wine country, where he has taken up golf, and he makes side trips to West Coast clients. Gephardt periodically visits the Gephardt Institute for Public Service at Washington University in St. Louis that he founded and raises money for.

Gephardt, who was a White House contender in the 1988 and 2004 elections, stayed on the periphery of this year's race. As a superdelegate to the national convention, Gephardt backed Hillary Rodham Clinton during the primaries but supported Barack Obama "every way I could" afterward. Gephardt dismisses speculation that he's a contender for Labor secretary or another Cabinet post, and says he hasn't been approached. "I want [Obama] to have a great Cabinet and succeed beyond any expectations. I'll help from the outside."

                                                                                                              -- Julie Kosterlitz