"There is no doubt we've made substantial progress against Ebola since Mr. Klain came on board," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Monday after confirming a report that Klain would return to his job in the private sector by March 1. He noted that as a special government employee, and not a full-time staffer, Klain's service was capped at 130 days. As for specific accomplishments, Earnest pointed to the expansion, to 35 from three, in the number of U.S. medical facilities deemed fully capable of treating an Ebola patient.

"That is a testament to the efforts that Mr. Klain has undertaken to integrate the response from a variety of agencies to ensure that we're focused on these goals. We've made substantial progress thanks to his leadership, and we're certainly appreciative of all that he's done."

Will there be a new Ebola coordinator after Klain leaves? Earnest said that would be decided closer to his departure while noting that the various government agencies preparing and responding to Ebola now had "a pretty routinized process" in place. In other words, they got this.

A more cynical, though perhaps no less accurate, answer would be to say that it depends on how many Ebola cases there are in the U.S. come February, and therefore how many headlines the disease generates. Obama may not have hired Klain to be the public face of the administration's response, but his hiring was designed to tamp down a public furor. In that respect, it was a job well done.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.