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Treasury Secretary John Snow accepts the Investors in America
Award from Partners for Livable Communities Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004,
in Washington. Sec. Snow, who has championed the administration's
economic policies on Wall Street and Main Street, accepted President
Bush's offer Wednesday to remain in the Cabinet.
(AP) |
John Snow, whose predicted departure created a
parlor game of
speculation in Washington this week, will remain U.S. Treasury secretary
at the request of President George W. Bush, White House spokesman Scott
McClellan said.
"The president and Secretary Snow met a short time ago in the Oval
Office," McClellan said. "The president asked Secretary Snow to continue
on in his service and the president is pleased Secretary Snow agreed to
continue serving as Treasury Secretary."
The Washington Post and New York Times both
reported within the past 10 days that Snow was likely to be replaced,
fueling talk about his possible successors. Snow will now remain in office
as Bush prepares to elevate the role of the Treasury in a second-term
agenda that includes extending $1.85 trillion in tax cuts, streamlining
the 3,000-page tax code, and
reinforcing Social Security.
"I've been honored to serve in this administration and delighted to
have played a part under the president's leadership in seeing the American
economy turn around," Snow, 65, said in an interview last week.
The 65-year-old former railroad executive entered the Cabinet in
February 2003, after Paul O'Neill was ousted two years ago this month
after objecting to plans for an additional tax cut. Keen to avoid his
predecessor's mistakes, Snow dropped the objections he had raised in the
private sector to budget deficits and embraced Bush's policies. He helped
the president win congressional support for a third round of tax cuts in
May 2003 and then toured the nation as an election-year salesman for Bush
and the administration's economic record.
Talk that Snow's tenure was shaky began shortly after the election,
even after the secretary spent much of 2004 on the road, touring 23 states
for Bush, including eight trips to the battleground state of Ohio.
Bruce Bartlett, a former Treasury economist under President George H.W.
Bush, said the White House's treatment of Snow had been "despicable".
"John Snow has been a very effective salesman and loyal to the
president so it should have been handled more professionally," said Stuart
Eizenstat, who served as deputy Treasury secretary under President Bill
Clinton.
Snow also generated controversy on the campaign
trail, telling Ohio Republicans it was a "myth" Bush would be the first
president since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs during his term. While Snow
said he had been misquoted, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry
called him "callous".
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-12-09 14:04