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On Dec. 9, President Bush nominated CSX Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Snow as treasury secretary to succeed recently fired Paul O'Neill.


Snow, 63, served as deputy undersecretary of U.S. Department of Transportation under President Ford in 1975-76 and supported rail industry deregulation. He also served as administrator of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 1976-77.


"John Snow has excelled as a business leader, an expert on economic policy, an academic and as a public servant," said Bush in a prepared statement. "[He] will be a key adviser on the economy and a key advocate of my administration's agenda for
growth, new jobs, and wider and more international trade."


A lawyer and economist, Snow helped build CSX Transportation into the largest Eastern Class I and played a key role in the June 1999 Conrail split with Norfolk Southern Corp.


"John Snow's contributions to our company, the U.S. transportation industry and the global business community are well-known and highly respected," said CSX Corp. and CSXT President Michael Ward in a prepared statement.


CSX chairman and CEO since 1991, Snow joined the company in 1977, serving as vice president of government affairs with CSX predecessor Chessie System. In 1985, he became CSXT president and CEO, and four years later was named CSX Corp. president and CEO.


From 1994 to 1996, Snow also served as chairman of the Business Roundtable, a business policy group comprising CEOs from 250 of the nation's largest companies.


"I look forward to joining [Bush's] economic team to advance a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda," said Snow at his nomination briefing. "I pledge to use all my talents, my power, my energy and my ability to strengthen the current economic recovery and create an environment where millions of job-creators — those small businesses and partnerships and medium-sized businesses and large businesses — and investors, all across America, will grow and prosper."


Snow currently serves as board chairman of Association of American Railroads, co-chairman of the Conference Board's Blue-Ribbon Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprise, and board member of CarMax, U.S. Steel Corp., Johnson and Johnson, Verizon Communications, Sapient Corp. and Johns Hopkins University.


"Snow's substantive knowledge of economics combined with his understanding of the public policy process will give him a unique ability to provide the leadership necessary at the department," said AAR President and CEO Edward Hamberger in a prepared statement. "He understands the government, the private sector and the relationship between the two."


The Senate soon will conduct confirmation hearings to consider Snow's nomination.