Bush taps railroad executive as new Treasury secretary

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday nominated John W. Snow, chairman of the transportation and railroad conglomerate CSX Corp., to replace Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and lead an economic team retooled for the president's re-election drive.

"John Snow has excelled as a business leader, an expert on economic policy, an academic, and as a public servant," Bush said. "He'll be a superb member of my Cabinet."

Snow, 63, a former Ford administration official whose company has helped fund the campaigns of Bush and other scores of other GOP politicians, will be the point man as the president presses a new tax-cutting economic package.

Snow credited Bush with shepherding the economy through "one of the shortest and shallowest" recessions. "Yet, I strongly share your view that we cannot be satisfied until everyone -- every single person who is unemployed and seeking a job -- has an opportunity to work," Snow said.

'I'm going to Disney World'

Bush nominated Snow just three days after firing O'Neill and White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey as part of a shake-up designed to control political damage from the ailing economy. Harvey Pitt, criticized for failing to shield Bush politically from the corporate abuse scandals, resigned on Election Day as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The president is close to naming successors to Lindsey and Pitt, aides said. Lindsey, who attended the announcement, was asked what's next for him. "I'm going to Disney World," he replied.

O'Neill, angered by his abrupt ouster, was not in the room.

Democrats seized on the shake-up as evidence that Bush's tax-cutting economic policies have hurt the economy.

"It isn't the names, but the plan that is of concern to us," said Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. "It wasn't necessarily the people that he had in place in the last two years, it's the plan. Trickle-down economics doesn't work."

Snow took a potentially damaging issue off the table by resigning his membership in Augusta National. The golf club, which hosts golf's premier tournament, is under fire for not admitting women. Snow was listed as a member in September.