President Obama today named West Point graduate, onetime banker and former chief executive of the U.S.O. and just recently confirmed by the Senate to be Shinseki’s deputy — Sloan D. Gibson — to temporarily replace Shinseki, who resigned today.
Announcing the appointment, the President said, “Sloan, I think, would be the first to acknowledge that he’s going to have a learning curve that he’s got to deal with…but the nature of the problem that has surfaced and is — has been the cause of this attention is one that we can start tackling right away, and without completely transforming the system, we can immediately make some progress.”
The Wall Street Journal names the following four as possible people who could be named to succeed Shinseki, in addition to Mr. Gibson:
Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno
Mr. Odierno led American efforts in Iraq and returned to Washington in 2011. Mr. Odierno hasn’t held a civilian post.
.
Retired Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli
Mr. Chiarelli served as the Army’s vice chief of staff from 2008 to 2012. He is currently the CEO of One Mind for Research, an organization that works on helping veterans recover from brain injuries..
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D., Ill.)
A longtime ally of Mr. Obama, Ms. Duckworth was an assistant VA secretary from 2009 until she resigned to run for Congress in 2012. Ms. Duckworth, who lost her legs in the Iraq war, is one of five Democrats named last week to the House select committee investigating the Benghazi attacks. She called for Mr. Shinseki to resign on Friday.
.
Former Sen. Jim Webb (D., Va.)
The one-term senator has been in the news recently for floating the idea that he’ll run for the president in 2016. More likely, but still a long shot, is his joining Mr. Obama’s administration. Mr. Webb got an endorsement for the post this week from the News Leader in Staunton, Va.
The following is Mr. Gibson’s biography as provided by the Veterans Administration:
Prior to his appointment as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Sloan D. Gibson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Services Organizations (USO), which has been lifting the spirits of American Servicemembers and their families for more than 73 years. During his five years at the USO, net fundraising grew 90 percent, enabling dramatic growth in programs and facilities supporting our forward-deployed men and women, military families, as well as our wounded, ill, and injured Servicemembers, their families, and the families of the fallen.
Before joining the USO, Mr. Gibson spent more than 20 years in banking in Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, GA; Nashville, TN; and Birmingham, AL. In 2004, he retired from AmSouth Bancorporation, a New York Stock Exchange–traded corporation, where he served as vice chairman and chief financial officer. During his tenure as CFO, AmSouth was added to the S&P 500. Mr. Gibson also has a long history of service and leadership with a variety of nonprofit organizations. In 2002, Mr. Gibson chaired the United Way campaign in Central Alabama, which raised more than $30 million.
Mr. Gibson is the son of an Army Air Corpsman who served as a B-17 tail-gunner during World War II, later earning his commission in the U.S. Air Force. He is also the grandson of a World War I Army Infantryman who was wounded while serving in the 3rd Infantry Division at the Second Battle of the Marne.
A 1975 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mr. Gibson earned both Airborne and Ranger qualifications and served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He earned a Masters in Economics from the University of Missouri in Kansas City and a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Deputy Secretary Gibson and his wife, Margaret, have been married nearly 32 years. They have two grown daughters, Celia and Laura.
We wish Mr. Gibson good luck and every support he can get and every success he can achieve in this critical temporary or permanent position.
Our veterans need such — deserve it.
