Obama picks bank exec Daley for chief of staff

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama introduced William Daley as  his new chief of staff   Wenesday afternoon at the White House. 

The veteran political manager with Wall Street ties will be coming onboard to direct an operation now steaming toward re-election mode.

Daley replaces interim chief Pete Rouse who took the job three months ago when former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel left to run for Chicago mayor. Rouse, who will remain as a counselor to the president, did not want the position permanently and recommended Daley for it.

Although Daley carries the name of a dynastic political family in Chicago, which is Obama's hometown, he and the president haven't been personally close. He is the brother of the current Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Their father was the Chicago mayor and Democratic boss, the late Richard J. Daley.

Analysts say William Daley offers criteria Obama wants, including an outsider's perspective, credibility with the business community and experience in navigating divided government.

Daley also is reported to want the job. At 62, the move will thrust him into the heart of national politics just as Obama adapts to a new reality in Washington, with Republicans controlling the House, working to gut his signature health care law and pushing for major cuts in spending.

Obama informed his senior advisers of the change in a meeting on Thursday morning. He made clear that no one is more valuable to him than Rouse, according to one of the officials in the room. The setup means Obama gets both officials -- Daley to run the grueling operation, Rouse to offer a range of advice.

Considered the most consuming job in the White House, the chief of staff shapes nearly everything that Obama deals with -- how the president spends his time, how he pursues his strategies on foreign and domestic policy, how he deals with a politically deadlocked Congress and a skeptical electorate.

Rouse has been leading a review of how to restructure the White House since even before Emanuel quit the job in October.

In the past week, reports of other changes have surface. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced Wednesday he was resigning by early February, senior adviser David Axelrod will be leaving soon, and both of Obama's deputy chiefs of staff, Jim Messina and Mona Sutphen, are exiting soon, too. David Plouffe, a key member of Obama's inner circle as his former presidential campaign manager, will be joining the senior staff of the White House on Monday.

Daley emerged as a natural candidate, particularly after other internal candidates ended up in other positions. He is close to some of those in Obama's orbit, including Axelrod, Emanuel and senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett.