Exxon Mobil Chief Rises as Trump’s Choice for Secretary of State

[Zebra]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/u...ick&contentCollection=Politics&pgtype=article

Exxon Mobil Chief Rises as Trump’s Choice for Secretary of State

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and MAGGIE HABERMANDEC. 9, 2016

Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has extensive experience working with foreign leaders, which can come under scrutiny during a Senate confirmation hearing. Credit LM Otero/Associated Press



Rex W. Tillerson, the president and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has emerged as President-elect Donald J. Trump’s top choice to become secretary of state, according to a person with direct knowledge of the search process.

The news is the latest turn in what has become the most extended drama of Mr. Trump’s transition effort, with a rotating cast of seeming front-runners to become America’s top diplomat. Choosing Mr. Tillerson would add to a long list of wealthy businesspeople in high-ranking Trump administration posts.......

 

[Zebra]

VIP Speaker Series: ExxonMobil's CEO Rex Tillerson

Published on Feb 18, 2016 , by Texas BBA

 

[Mikesingh]

It's like Ambani being chosen as India's Home Minister!!

 

[rock127]

It's like Ambani being chosen as India's Home Minister!!

US thinks with a business POV.

 

[pmaitra]

As to why ultimately the Exxon Mobil chief was picked as the Secretary of State:
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Did Donald Trump need an apology from Mitt Romney?

(CNN)As President-elect Donald Trump considered Mitt Romney for secretary of state, Trump wanted one thing Romney wouldn't give him: an apology.

Trump was willing to move past Romney's bitter campaign-trail criticism of him. And incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus, who chaired the Republican National Committee during both men's presidential campaigns, convinced Trump there was value in showing he was big enough to bring Romney into the fold.

But top aides, including Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon, saw Romney's attacks as unforgivable, according to three sources close to Romney, two of whom are familiar with Trump's transition process.

CNN has learned that Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Priebus also wanted Romney to apologize as a way to smooth over the tension.

After Conway and others attacked Romney publicly -- lobbying against his selection in television interviews -- and more than a week after the two had begun talking, Trump raised the possibility of a public apology with Romney as a way of mollifying those critics, the sources said. He asked Romney to say publicly he was "wrong" about Trump.

Trump personally saw it in business deal terms: He would get the mea culpa he sought from Romney; Romney would get the job he covets.

But Romney -- who titled his own book "No Apology" -- declined.

He offered forward-looking praise for Trump -- starting with the President-elect's election-night speech. But he wouldn't go backward and retract his words from the campaign.

Eventually, Romney's critics persuaded Trump to look elsewhere, and on Monday he tapped ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his nominee for secretary of state.