1. The New
&dDliDiBtratioaPresident Obama~s new crew: Is this the change we need?
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resident Barack Obama was voted
the 44th president of the United
States of America on November
4, 2008.While awaiting his inauguration
in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2009,
President-elect Obama began building his
administration.The transition is the period
between the outgoing president and the
incoming president, when the president-elect
and his team are briefed on subjects ranging
from intelligence and military operations
around the world to the economy.
The transition process was led by John
Podesta, former Chief Of Staff to President
Clinton. A statement released on President
Obama's website, Change.gov, said that the
appointees selected are there to fulfill Obama's
campaign promise to rebuilding the government
and serving the American people.The statement
also promised transparency in all appointments.
There is added pressure on the Obama
administration because of the dire problems
that the country is experiencing, including the
economic crisis, rising unemployment, the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq, climate change and
the continued threat of terrorism. During the
transition, President Obama said that he hoped
to model his administration after President
Abraham Lincoln's as detailed in the book Team
ofRivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. President
Lincoln selected many of his political rivals to
be in his cabinet.
Some of the nominations have stayed true to
that narrative. Obama chose two people who
ran against him during the Democratic Party
primaries to be in his administration. Senator
Hillary Clinton was named Secretary Of State
and Governor Bill Richardson was nominated
to be Obama's Secretary of Commerce. Other
appointees include Timothy Geithner, president
of the New York Federal Reserve, as Obama's
Treasury Secretary and Arizona Governor Janet
WORDS LULAINE COMPERE
Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security,
while President Bush's appointee Robert
Gates continues as Secretary of Defense. Eric
Holder has been appointed America's first Black
Attorney General, and Melody Barnes serves as
Director of the Domestic Policy Council.
President Obama has been criticized by
some supporters who struggle to reconcile
Obama's picks with his-message of change.They
say the two are contradictory since many of the
appointees are veterans of President Clinton's
administration.While still President-elect,
Obama responded to the criticisms during a
press conference, stating that the change he
talked about on the campaign trail starts with
him, but that he also needed to select people
who know how to get things done, especially
with the problems the country is facing.
President Obama has promised to end the
Iraq war, reinvest in infrastructure and provide a
tax cut for 95% of the population. 0
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