CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has selected retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, who clashed with the Bush administration over the number of troops needed in Iraq, to be the next secretary of veterans affairs.
Obama's announcement was made in a television interview taped on Saturday that is to be aired in full on Sunday.
Shinseki famously clashed with the administration of President George W. Bush over how many troops would be needed to stabilize Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion.
Shinseki served in the Army for 38 years and lost part of his right foot during one of two combat tours in Vietnam.
He served as Chief of Staff of the Army from 1999 to 2003.
Obama planned to announce the appointment at a news conference on Sunday that coincides with the anniversary of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese airstrikes on the U.S. base in Hawaii that brought the United States into World War Two.
"I think that General Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home," Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press" in a clip aired by NBC News on Saturday.
"Meet the Press" moderator Tom Brokaw noted Shinseki had lost his job in the Bush administration because he said more troops were needed in Iraq than then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wanted.
"He was right," Obama said of Shinseki.
Rumsfeld and then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz heaped scorn on Shinseki for testifying before Congress that several hundred thousand U.S. troops might be needed to stabilize Iraq.
Shinseki retired as the Army's top officer in June 2003.
In his retirement speech, Shinseki chastised those who display "mistrust and arrogance" in military leadership and warned against over-committing the Army.
Shinseki was born in Hawaii to Japanese-American parents. Obama noted their shared home state when describing the reasoning for his selection.
"He has agreed that he is willing to be part of this administration because both he and I share a reverence for those who serve. I grew up in Hawaii, as he did."
Obama's news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST on Sunday.
Obama pledged during his presidential campaign to improve services for retired U.S. military men and women if he won the White House.
The news conference is his latest in a string of announcements of appointments to his Cabinet and other top administration posts.
Shinseki would need Senate confirmation to the position.
Others names that had surfaced as possibilities for the veterans affairs post included Max Cleland, a former U.S. senator who lost three limbs in the Vietnam war, and Tammy Duckworth, who heads Illinois veterans affairs department and lost both of her legs in the Iraq war.
