President Barack Obama has tapped a Nigerian , who served in top roles at the Treasury Department, Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo to succeed Caroline Atkinson as his deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.
Ms.
Atkinson has served in her current post since June 2013, a position
that includes coordinating U.S. participation in the annual summits of
the Group of 20 and Group of Seven countries. Ms. Atkinson also played
key roles in the recently concluded climate negotiations in Paris and in
pushing the White House’s trade agenda, including the Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade agreement.
Mr. Adeyemo, 34, joined the White House’s National Economic Council
as deputy director this fall from the Treasury, where he served most
recently as the deputy chief of staff to Secretary Jacob Lew. He was the
Treasury’s lead negotiator on the currency agreement that was part of
the Pacific trade deal.
Mr. Adeyemo also worked on Treasury’s
response to crises in Ukraine and Greece and in 2010 was one of the
first officials charged with standing up the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau.
In a statement, Mr. Obama thanked Ms. Atkinson
for her service and said he was grateful that Mr. Adeyemo would carry on
her work. Mr. Adeyemo had been nominated by Mr. Obama to serve as
assistant Treasury secretary for international markets and development,
but a White House official said Mr. Adeyemo had asked the president to
withdraw the nomination given his new role.
Mr. Lew said that Mr.
Adeyemo had “developed a network of international relationships in
economic offices around the world to promote U.S. interests
effectively.” Former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Mr. Adeyemo,
who joined the administration in 2009, was a “natural diplomat with a
great feel for policy.”
The position has served as a springboard
to even higher profile international finance posts. Michael Froman, who
is currently the U.S. trade representative, held the post under both Mr.
Obama and President Bill Clinton. Federal Reserve governor Lael
Brainard, who previously served as a senior Treasury official in the
Obama administration, held the post in the Clinton administration.
