DICK'S PICKS, VOL. 23:

Bush Picks CSX Corp. Chief for Treasury: Railroad Executive Is In Final Review Stage (Mike Allen, December 9, 2002, Washington Post)

President Bush has chosen CSX Corp. Chairman John W. Snow as the new treasury secretary, administration sources said yesterday.

Snow, who was a Transportation Department official in the Ford administration, has accepted the job and will be nominated as long as nothing disqualifying turns up in the final stages of the White House's legal and financial review, the sources said. [...]

Administration officials said Snow, 63, was picked partly for a skill that they saw lacking in O'Neill: an ability to communicate Bush's policy clearly on television and Capitol Hill. The officials also cited Snow's familiarity with Washington policymakers and his record in business beyond New York, which the White House refers to as "Main Street experience."

Snow, a solid Republican with ties to moderate Democrats, is known as a glass-smooth salesman who doesn't need staff members to provide him details during interviews and meetings. He was a tireless champion of deregulation when he was deputy undersecretary at the Transportation Department under President Gerald R. Ford. Vice President Cheney, who led the selection process for O'Neill's successor, was White House chief of staff under Ford.

Who? Posted by Orrin Judd at December 8, 2002 11:36 PM