Summers Withdraws Name for Fed Chairmanship [View all]

[swag]

Source: Wall Street Journal

By DAVID WESSELCONNECTWASHINGTON— Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary, called President Barack Obama Sunday to say he is pulling out of the contest to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

"I have reluctantly concluded that any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interest of the Federal Reserve, the Administration or, ultimately, the interests of the nation's ongoing economic recovery," Mr. Summers said in a letter to the president that followed the telephone call.

The move forces Mr. Obama to look to other potential candidates for the Fed job including Janet Yellen, the Fed's vice chairwoman; Donald Kohn, a former vice chairman; and former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Mr. Obama has said that he interviewed the first two. Mr. Geithner has said he isn't interested.

. . .

Mr. Summers, who was chairman of Mr. Obama's National Economic Council early in his presidency, had been widely believed to be the president's first choice for the Fed job, but opposition from liberals and women's groups—and, importantly, from some Senate Banking Committee Democrats—has been mounting.

For them, Mr. Summers became a symbol—a caricature, his admirers say—of all the failures of financial regulation that they said led to the devastating financial crisis.

. . . more

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323981304579077442028100408.html