Missing, Not Missed: CEOs in Obama Cabinet

Prez keeps Wall Street at arm's length, leans on pols, academics

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Feb 20, 2009 10:02 AM CST

(Newser) – To the multitude of differences between the Obama administration and its predecessors, add the absence of corporate CEOs from Cabinet meetings. The reason is simple, reports Politico: There aren't any. Recent Wall Street-to-Washington catastrophes such as the Bush Treasury Department aren't the only reason, either. "Obama’s more academic, intellectual and political," an exec at the conservative Heritage Foundation says of the president. "He comes from a whole different tradition."

The absence is especially notable given the current economic climate, but the administration isn't operating in a vacuum, says the head of the right-leaning Business Roundtable: "They’ve been very aggressive in reaching out to the business community." And longtime Democratic operative Terry McAuliffe says of the president, "It’s not like the business community can’t get to him and give him ideas. He’s very open."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs chief Henry Paulson participates in a discussion about markets and climate change with "Resources for the Future" in Washington, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Robert Rubin joined the Clinton Cabinet as Treasury Secretary after a career with Goldman Sachs; his post-Washington tenure at Citigroup was not a rousing success. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file)

President Barack Obama sits with Google CEO Eric Schmidt in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington Jan. 28, 2009, during a meeting with business leaders to discuss the economy. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Obama’s more academic, intellectual and political. He comes from a whole different tradition. - Michael Franc, vice president for government relations at the Heritage Foundation

There’s always been a place in government for these people who come from the business world, whether at Commerce, Defense, Treasury, or on the White House staff. But suddenly they’re not there. - Stephen Hess, senior fellow emeritus at the Brookings Institution

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Missing, Not Missed: CEOs in Obama Cabinet