Bernanke Seen as Safe Pick For a White House in Straits

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 25, 2005; Page A04

In nominating Ben S. Bernanke as the next Federal Reserve Board chairman, President Bush turned to a candidate for the job with unassailable credentials and enough distance from the White House to blunt charges of cronyism or ideological motivations, former White House officials and economists said yesterday.

The president had considered nominees who may have left a deeper conservative stamp on the Fed. Conversely, he had the opportunity to bridge the partisan divide by nominating internal Fed candidates highly regarded by retiring Chairman Alan Greenspan who happened to be either Democratic or politically independent.