Obama under fire for cronyism with pick for British Ambassador
Barack Obama has been embroiled in a cronyism row after reports that he intends to make Louis Susman, one of his biggest fundraisers, the new US ambassador in London.
The selection of Mr Susman, a lawyer and banker from the president's hometown of Chicago, rather than an experienced diplomat, raises new questions about Mr Obama's commitment to the special relationship with Britain.
American commentators denounced the selection of a rich friend to the plumb post, regarded as one of the most prestigious in the president's gift, as worthy of a "banana republic".
They said it was proof that Mr Obama has turned his back on his campaign pledge to end politics as usual.
A source with knowledge of the negotiations told The Washington Post that the appointment is "likely to happen" but is "not final".
A British diplomat told The Sunday Telegraph they aware of the reports and are watching the situation but stressed they remain neutral about the appointment.
Others are not so sanguine. Critics said that it would have been more appropriate to dispatch a high profile diplomat at a time when there are fears in British government that Mr Obama is not as attached to the special relationship as his predecessors.
And they pointed out that there is little difference between handing a major diplomatic post to a fundraiser and the "pay to play" scandal in which disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich apparently auctioned off Mr Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder.
Mr Susman's reputation for hoovering large amounts of cash from deep pockets saw him nicknamed "the vacuum cleaner" when he raised more than $240million for John Kerry's White House bid in 2004.
He was one of Mr Obama's biggest campaign cash "bundlers", fundraisers who collect contributions from hundreds of others. He also gave $300,000 to the president's inauguration fund.
Jim Nuzzo, a former White House aide to the first President Bush whose elder son is educated in Britain, told The Sunday Telegraph: "He has paid and now he gets to play in London.
"We've seen this before with Obama. He promises high ethical standards and then waves them aside to get the people he wants. We saw it with his cabinet appointees who had an aversion to paying their taxes."
Mr. Susman moved to Chicago in 1989 to work for Salomon Brothers. He has just retired earlier this month as vice chairman of Citigroup Global Markets.
"Obama could have chosen for his ambassador to London an important diplomat who could strengthen the special relationship at a time when it is under strain from several quarters. Instead he seems to have selected someone who is going to have a four year vacation." Mr Nuzzo pointed out that Mr Obama's decision to eschew public election funding to maximise his fundraising advantage over Republican John McCain makes him even more beholden that past presidents to rich fundraisers. "He needed bundlers to come out with massive amounts of cash. He spent three to four times as much as George Bush. There are an awful lot of people with chips to cash." The White House is expected to make the argument that Mr Susman's experience as a former vice chairman of Citigroup Global Markets has knowledge of the London financial system which makes him a good fit as ambassador to the Court of St James, the honorific title bestowed on envoys to the UK. But Benjamin Sarlin, a writer for the Daily Beast website, complained that such appointment "evokes the political culture of a banana republic". He said: "It is a strange country where we jeer at ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich for allegedly auctioning off a Senate seat while accepting as normal that dozens of ambassadorships are brazenly sold to the highest bidder. "For all of Obama's talk about transparency and bringing change to Washington, the tradition likely isn't going anywhere." Foreign service officer Ronald Spiers expressed the disdain of career diplomats for the practise. "It's a matter of pleasing or appeasing a high rolling political appointee," he said. "Generally these guys like to be referred to as 'Mr. Ambassador' for the rest of their lives." Robert Tuttle, the US ambassador in London since 2005, was a California car dealer who raised $100,000 for George W Bush's 2004 election campaign and another $100,000 for his inauguration. But Mr Obama's campaign promises to change politics as usual had raised hopes that he would not continue the practice of doling out prized ambassadorships to cronies. At a White House press conference earlier this month, the president claimed that he would try hard to appoint qualified officers from the US foreign service to prominent ambassadorships, but he conceded "there probably will be some" donors who get the jobs. "It would be disingenuous for me to suggest that there are not going to be some excellent public servants but who haven't come through the ranks of the civil service," he said. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late president John F Kennedy had been tipped as a frontrunner for the London post until she began an ill-fated campaign to inherit Hillary Clinton's senate seat. Her stuttering performances and subsequent political implosion appears to have taken her out of the running. She may now be sent as the US representative to the Vatican as a lower profile consolation prize. The news comes as Mr Obama prepares to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday on the economic crisis before issuing his first budget on Thursday.
"Obama could have chosen for his ambassador to London an important diplomat who could strengthen the special relationship at a time when it is under strain from several quarters. Instead he seems to have selected someone who is going to have a four year vacation." Mr Nuzzo pointed out that Mr Obama's decision to eschew public election funding to maximise his fundraising advantage over Republican John McCain makes him even more beholden that past presidents to rich fundraisers. "He needed bundlers to come out with massive amounts of cash. He spent three to four times as much as George Bush. There are an awful lot of people with chips to cash." The White House is expected to make the argument that Mr Susman's experience as a former vice chairman of Citigroup Global Markets has knowledge of the London financial system which makes him a good fit as ambassador to the Court of St James, the honorific title bestowed on envoys to the UK. But Benjamin Sarlin, a writer for the Daily Beast website, complained that such appointment "evokes the political culture of a banana republic". He said: "It is a strange country where we jeer at ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich for allegedly auctioning off a Senate seat while accepting as normal that dozens of ambassadorships are brazenly sold to the highest bidder. "For all of Obama's talk about transparency and bringing change to Washington, the tradition likely isn't going anywhere." Foreign service officer Ronald Spiers expressed the disdain of career diplomats for the practise. "It's a matter of pleasing or appeasing a high rolling political appointee," he said. "Generally these guys like to be referred to as 'Mr. Ambassador' for the rest of their lives." Robert Tuttle, the US ambassador in London since 2005, was a California car dealer who raised $100,000 for George W Bush's 2004 election campaign and another $100,000 for his inauguration. But Mr Obama's campaign promises to change politics as usual had raised hopes that he would not continue the practice of doling out prized ambassadorships to cronies. At a White House press conference earlier this month, the president claimed that he would try hard to appoint qualified officers from the US foreign service to prominent ambassadorships, but he conceded "there probably will be some" donors who get the jobs. "It would be disingenuous for me to suggest that there are not going to be some excellent public servants but who haven't come through the ranks of the civil service," he said. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late president John F Kennedy had been tipped as a frontrunner for the London post until she began an ill-fated campaign to inherit Hillary Clinton's senate seat. Her stuttering performances and subsequent political implosion appears to have taken her out of the running. She may now be sent as the US representative to the Vatican as a lower profile consolation prize. The news comes as Mr Obama prepares to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday on the economic crisis before issuing his first budget on Thursday.