By Josh Gerstein
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. He’s a former commerce secretary, who headed up President Bill Clinton’s effort to enact the historic NAFTA treaty, served as chairman of Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000, and happens to be a member of a storied political dynasty in Obama’s hometown of Chicago.
But, more recently, Daley has spent almost seven years as a senior executive at JP Morgan Chase—America’s 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 president’s thinking about how he will govern in the next two years.
“It was imagery and I think they have decided that they’re no longer concerned about it,” said Dean Baker of the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research.
“They have been signaling, and even said they want to work on the relationship with the business community,” said one prominent financial industry lobbyist, who asked not to be named. “One of the sectors that needs the most attention is Wall Street and financial services. I think this would be a move to back that up. The administration has also been criticized, rightly, for lacking business expertise within the administration and this would also respond to that criticism.”
Daley’s 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.
