Modbert
Daydream Believer
- Sep 2, 2008
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A banker for White House chief of staff - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com
Well this is certainly going to be interesting.
Just a year or two ago, a lukewarm glass of water and a stern talking-to from President Barack Obama was the most a bank executive could hope for when visiting the White House. Now Obama has chosen one to run the place.
Granted that Bill Daley, whom Obama will announce Thursday afternoon as his new chief of staff, is not your typical banker. Hes a former commerce secretary, who headed up President Bill Clintons effort to enact the historic NAFTA treaty, served as chairman of Vice President Al Gores presidential campaign in 2000, and happens to be a member of a storied political dynasty in Obamas hometown of Chicago.
But, more recently, Daley has spent almost seven years as a senior executive at JP Morgan ChaseAmericas largest bank. That he will now move from the top echelons of the banking industry to such a senior position is a measure of how the White House has abandoned a strategy of publicly pillorying the financial industry in favor of a more conciliatory, business-friendly tone. And it may be an important clue into the presidents thinking about how he will govern in the next two years.
Daleys friends and allies in the business world, including prominent Republicans, made clear Wednesday that his appointment would both help Obama mend relations with the titans of industry as well as broker deals with the GOP.
Well this is certainly going to be interesting.