FACTBOX: Obama's Cabinet begins to take shape

(Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama has nominated Timothy Geithner as his Treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers to head the National Economic Council, filling two of the most closely watched jobs in his administration.

A senior Democratic source said on Tuesday Obama also intended to ask Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to remain on the job.

Here are people Obama has chosen or is considering for key posts. Many remain subject to vetting and Senate confirmation before taking office.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

* Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, named by President George W. Bush in late 2006, is considered a moderate voice on the Republican's national security team and could embody an important signal of continuity.

A senior Democratic source told Reuters Obama intended to ask him to stay on and that he was likely to accept.

Gates, a former CIA director, took over the U.S. Department of Defense from the combative Donald Rumsfeld and has run things with a low-key approach that seeks to build constructive relationships but also betrays a steely firmness of purpose in the two U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

* Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the former top operational commander of NATO, is a leading contender for White House national security adviser and the Politico news website said on Tuesday the deal had been done.

Jones is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans but has avoided aligning himself with either party.

He is known to have been a strong critic of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war and is quoted as describing the war as a "debacle," in Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward's 2006 book "State of Denial."

TREASURY SECRETARY

* Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, is Obama's choice for the Treasury Department, making him Obama's point person in dealing with the economic crisis.

Geithner has helped lead efforts to stabilize financial markets and argued that banks crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework.

Geithner's appointment was made official on Monday by Obama, who said he would bring "an unparalleled understanding of our current economic crisis" to the job.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL

* Lawrence Summers, 53, was Treasury secretary for the final 1-1/2 years of the Clinton administration and has been a senior adviser to Obama for several months, helping to guide his response to the financial meltdown.

The intense and blunt-spoken Summers became a full professor at Harvard at 28 and was later president of the university, where his abrasive style made many enemies and he resigned in 2006. He had been seen as Geithner's main competition for the job of Treasury chief.

Summers nomination to head the council was officially announced on Monday. He is also under consideration as a possible replacement for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when his term ends in 2010.

SECRETARY OF STATE

* New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's former rival for the White House, is said to have accepted the post of secretary of state, The New York Times reported. A senior Clinton adviser said the report was premature, but added that discussions with the Obama White House were "on track."

Clinton has a global profile both as a political leader in her own right and as the wife of former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Policy analysts say her selection could mean a more hawkish U.S. stance, noting that she was more reluctant than Obama to commit to a firm timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

Clinton's appointment is expected to be made official after the November 27 Thanksgiving holiday.

COMMERCE SECRETARY

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, had been an early supporter of Obama after dropping his own presidential ambitions.

The commerce secretary is seen as the voice of the U.S. business community in the White House and is tasked with promoting U.S. business interests overseas.

Richardson's appointment, which has been widely reported by U.S. media, would make him the first high-profile Hispanic leader in the Obama Cabinet.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

* Tom Daschle, a key early supporter and savvy former U.S. Senate leader, has been selected by Obama as secretary of health and human services, according to Democratic sources.

In that role, he will be the top official spearheading Obama's effort to overhaul the U.S. health care system. The high-profile selection signals that the push to extend health coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans be a high priority for Obama.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

* Eric Holder, a former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, has accepted a conditional offer to become head of the Justice Department, Democratic officials said.

Holder, who served as deputy attorney general under Clinton, has been a senior legal advisor to Obama's campaign and helped vet Obama's vice presidential candidates.

Before the offer becomes official, Obama's team is seeking to determine if Holder can win Senate confirmation with broad bipartisan support.

HOMELAND SECURITY

* Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of Arizona, is under consideration to head the U.S. Homeland Security Department, a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense following the September 11 attacks.

"She's in the mix. She may be the front-runner," a Democratic official told Reuters.

Napolitano, 50, is a former U.S. attorney for Arizona and state attorney general, giving her law enforcement experience and is as governor of a state bordering Mexico, she also is closely involved in immigration issues that also come under the Homeland Security Department's purview.

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY

* John Boyd, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, who farms in Baskerville, Virginia. The NBFA organized a lawsuit in June by black farmers for payments out of $100 million included in the 2008 farm law to compensate growers who were victims of USDA bias.

* Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania agriculture secretary since 2003. Wolff is a sixth-generation dairy farmer and owns Pen-Col Farms in Millville, Pennsylvania. Wolff won approval of legislation aimed to improve water quality and settle conflicts between farmers and nearby towns.

* Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, re-elected to a second term in 2006, is a strong Obama supporter and had been considered a potential running mate for Obama.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan, Andrew Quinn, Jeff Mason; editing by Bill Trott)