President Clinton on Tuesday "with deep regret" announced Lloyd Bentsen's resignation as Treasury secretary and nominated Robert Rubin, head of his National Economic Council, to succeed him.
In a Rose Garden announcement, Clinton praised Bentsen for a "job, very, very well done."The president said Bentsen had expressed a desire to return to his native Texas to spend more time with his family and grandchildren but would be available to serve in a "kitchen Cabinet" to provide outside advice to the administration.
Bentsen's resignation was to take effect on Dec. 22. Rubin, who amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune on Wall Street before joining the administration, will have to win Senate approval for the Cabinet job.
Bentsen called Rubin "an excellent choice" and said he had originally recommended Rubin for the Treasury job when Clinton approached him in 1992. Rubin, 56, spent nearly three decades at the giant Wall Street investment firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co., resigning as chairman to join the administration last year.
Bentsen, who served in the Senate for 22 years, rising to head the Senate Finance Committee, became a widely respected Washington operator. Clinton relied on his expertise in dealing with Congress, a skill that will be missed especially now with both the Senate and House controlled by Republicans.
"After a career in public service, I want to go back to Texas, to my roots and return to the private sector . . . while I still had a spring in my step," Bentsen said.
Administration officials, speaking on condition they not be named, said that deputy White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles was the leading candidate to replace Rubin as head of the economic council. However, they said that announcement would probably not be made until later in the month after a decision was made on Bowles' replacement.
Bentsen said he told Clinton in September he planned to leave after the midterm elections "and the completion of our agenda for the year."
He praised Rubin as "a man of honor and integrity" with "a broad knowledge of our problems and programs."
Rubin said that "too many people are not feeling the benefits" of the economic recovery.