David Axelrod listens as Barack Obama speaks to the media on their campaign aircraft from Boise, Idaho, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 2, 2008. REUTERS/Jason Reed
CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama has tapped David Axelrod, a senior aide and one of his most trusted confidants, to become a senior White House adviser, his transition team said on Wednesday.
Axelrod, who was Obama’s strategist during the campaign and has been a political consultant for a long list of prominent Democratic politicians, was seen as a crucial player behind Obama’s comfortable win over Republican John McCain in the November 4 presidential race.
Obama’s staff also announced that Greg Craig, a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton and also a former State Department official, will become White House counsel when Obama takes office on January 20.
Reporting by Caren Bohan, Editing by Sandra Maler