Louis Caldera to Oversee White House Military Operations

By Philip Rucker

President-elect Barack Obama announced today he has tapped Louis E. Caldera, a former Army secretary, lawyer, politician and university president, to serve as director of the White House Military Office. Caldera, who endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic primaries, is the latest in a string of Clinton administration veterans to join Obama's administration.

Caldera will lead the office that oversees all White House military operations, including Air Force One, Camp David and presidential trips overseas. Caldera would succeed Raymond A. Spicer, a Navy rear admiral, who directs the office under President Bush.

A son of Mexican immigrants, Caldera graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as an officer in the Army. He earned his law and business degrees at Harvard University in 1987 and moved to Los Angeles, where he practiced law and in 1992 was elected to the California State Assembly. Caldera served in the Clinton Administration as managing director and chief operating officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service. In 1998, Caldera became the first Hispanic to serve as secretary of the Army.

"Louis has served his country with distinction in uniform and in government, and his pedigree is second-to-none," Obama said in a statement. "I know he'll bring to the White House the same dedication and integrity that have earned him the highest praise in every post, from Secretary of the Army to university president."

Since 2001, Caldera has worked in higher education, first as a vice chancellor for the California State University system and later as president of the University of New Mexico. He currently is a tenured professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Posted at 12:04 PM ET on Dec 2, 2008 |

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