President Bush picked a new Treasury secretary on Tuesday as he wrapped up a staff shake-up that one adviser said would allow beleaguered administration officials to “get our mojo back.”
Bush tapped Henry “Hank” Paulson, chairman of the Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs, to replace John Snow, who was widely regarded as ineffective in touting the booming economy.
“The Treasury secretary is the leading force on my economic team and the chief spokesman for my economic policies,” Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden, where he was flanked by Paulson and Snow.
Tuesday?s announcement capped months of speculation that Bush would replace Snow, although neither man mentioned the mounting pressure on Snow to make way for a replacement.
“For the past three years, Secretary John Snow has shown strong leadership,” Bush said. “Under his leadership, we have seen a broad and vigorous economic resurgence.”
Paulson, for his part, promised to bring his Wall Street sensibilities to the job.
“During my 32-year career in finance, I have developed a keen appreciation for the role that capital markets play in driving economic growth and efficiency,” he said. “The whole world is dependent upon the U.S. economy as a major engine
of its growth.”
Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, of Massachusetts, used Paulson?s nomination as an opportunity to savage Bush?s economic policies. But Sen. Edward Schumer, D-N.Y., had only praise for Paulson.
“His experience, intelligence and deep understanding of national and global economic issues make him the best pick America could have hoped for,” Schumer told The Associated Press.
The Paulson appointment was the latest in a series of staff changes at the White House. In the past few months, Bush replaced CIA Director Porter Goss with Gen. Michael Hayden, Press Secretary Scott McClellan with Tony Snow, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card with Josh Bolten.
Bolten told Fox News recently that the shake-up would allow Bush officials to “get our mojo back.”
