WASHINGTON – Confirming one of the worst kept secrets in the political world, President-elect Barack Obama today named New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to be his secretary of commerce.
Obama said at a news conference in Chicago that Richardson would be an "economic diplomat" in the job.
Richardson, who has run New Mexico for almost six years, was ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of energy during the Clinton administration and before that served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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He had been interviewed by Obama for secretary of state but that post went to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
Richardson is the third of Obama's former rivals for the Democratic nomination for president to get senior positions in the new administration. The other two are Clinton and Vice President-Elect Joseph Biden.
Richardson is the first Hispanic named to a senior post by Obama.
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