US: President Bush has asked Judge Michael Chertoff - an old foe of the Clintons from Whitewater days - to be his new Homeland Security chief.
Mr Chertoff, a former counsel on the Senate Whitewater Committee, headed the Justice Department's criminal division from 2001 to 2003, where he played a central role in the legal response to the September 11th attacks.
In 2003 Mr Bush named him as appeals court judge and he was approved by 88 votes to one in the Senate - the lone dissenter being Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mrs Clinton said later she voted against Chertoff because of his role as chief Republican counsel to the Whitewater committee investigating the Clintons business dealings and the suicide of her former law firm partner Vincent Foster.
"A number of the young people who worked in the White House were, I thought, very badly treated" and not handled "appropriately or professionally," said Mrs Clinton, who alleged that there was a "vast right-wing conspiracy" against her and her husband.
Mr Chertoff will replace Mr Tom Ridge, the first head of the sprawling Department of Homeland Security set up after September 11th. Mr Bush's first choice to succeed Mr Ridge, former New York police chief Mr Bernard Kerick, withdrew when it emerged he had employed an undocumented immigrant as a nanny.
At the White House yesterday, Mr Bush said Mr Chertoff had "been confirmed by the Senate three times", signalling he expected no problem in the confirmation proceedings. Despite his Whitewater role, Mr Chertoff's nomination was welcomed by both Republicans and Democrats.
He playing a significant role in development of the US Patriot Act to combat terrorist attacks. As head of the Justice Department's criminal division, he argued against extending legal rights to Zacarias Moussaoui, the lone man charged as a conspirator in the 2001 attacks.