President-elect Barack Obama, the first African-American to take the highest office in the US, has acted quickly since Election Day to appoint the team he would need to help him with the transition and with the country's leadership.

The BBC News website has put together a guide to the new people selected so far to assist Obama in governing the US in a time when the country faces the worst financial crisis since the great Depression and two wars abroad.

Rahm Emanuel - Chief of Staff

As Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel will be in charge of delivering the president's policy platform.

Emanuel is a person familiar with the White House as he has served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton and developed a reputation for forceful negotiation and unwavering loyalty.
In 2002, after leaving the White House, he was elected to the House of Representatives, representing Illinois's fifth congressional district.

Four years later, he was picked to head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, presiding over the party's dramatic congressional gains in that year's mid-term elections.

His district takes in President-elect Obama's home city of Chicago and the two men are close friends.

Emanuel's ties both to Obama and to the Clintons meant that he avoided endorsing either leading candidate in the Democratic primaries.

Political analysts see Emanuel's appointment as a clear sign from Obama that he "means business."

Some liberal Democrats fear that Emanuel as a moderate could drag Obama to the political center while Republican opponents are complaining that Emanuel's partisan style will clash with Obama's campaign promises to change the tone in Washington.

David Axelrod - Senior Adviser

As Obama's Chief Strategist during his run for both the US Senate and the presidency, David Axelrod was always expected to follow the President-elect into the White House.

At his new post, Axelrod, who spent most of his career in Chicago politics, first as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, then as a consultant, will have the power to oversee all presidential decisions and to meet the president at any time.

Axelrod has acted as an adviser to Harold Washington - Chicago's first African-American mayor, and came to know Barack Obama as the then-state senator rose through the ranks of the Illinois political scene.

Obama chose him to run his successful 2004 campaign for one of Illinois's US Senate seats, and again when he decided to run for president in 2006.

Valerie Jarrett - Transition Co-Chair

Like David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett is a close friend of Obama and a member of Chicago's political elite.

She worked for Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in the 1980s and for his successor Richard Daley, during which time she hired Obama's then-fiancГ©e Michelle Robinson to work for her.

Jarrett has been the Chair of Chicago's Transit Board from 1995 to 2005 before joining the Obama campaign as a senior adviser.

As Co-chair of Obama's transition team, Jarrett will be instrumental in establishing Obama's administration, and is likely to be given a high-profile job once the president-elect takes up his post.

John Podesta - Transition Co-Chair

Like Emanuel, Podesta is also a person with White House experience and is associated with the Clinton Presidency as Clinton's Chief of Staff.

Podesta is currently running the Centre for American Progress (CAP), the centre-left think tank he founded in 2003. He has remained close to the Clintons and backed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

Earlier this year John Podesta wrote the book "The Power of Progress" in which he outlined his views of the key priorities for a new Democratic president.

After his appointment as Co-chair of the transition team, many observers began studying the book looking for clues about the new Obama's administration.

Podesta has declared his intention to remain at CAP once the transition is complete and will not join the administration.

Pete Rouse - Transition Co-Chair

Pete Rouse, who has served in Obama's Senate office as Chief of Staff is the third leader of Obama's transition team.

Rouse has lots of experience on Capitol Hill since had previously worked for Senator Tom Daschle, when Daschle was the Democratic Senator Majority Leader.

Under Daschle, Pete Rouse became known to many as "the 101st Senator".

Robert Gibbs - Press Secretary

Many US media outlets suggest that Robert Gibbs, who was the Communications Director for the Obama campaign, would take the post of White House Press Secretary and become the public face of the entire administration.

With frequent appearances on television during the 2008 campaign, Gibbs became popular with members of the press and is already known as the President-elect's public face.

Gibbs has worked for Obama in his Senate office and has served as a press secretary to John Kerry during Kerry's 2004 presidential bid.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!