Bush gave dozens of donors jobs in final days of administration John Byrne

Published: Tuesday February 10, 2009





Print This Email This World Bank job can pay $3,000 a day Fred Fielding, Emmet Flood and William Burck have something in common.



They all work with President George W. Bush and were appointed to lucrative, obscure jobs by him in the closing days of his administration -- jobs that can pay as much as $3,000 an hour.



Less that two weeks before leaving office, Bush named the three to an obscure World Bank agency called the International Center for Settlement of Investment disputes, where, if called to hear a case, they can earn as much as $3,000 an hour -- plus expenses. Bush also named two other prominent Republicans to the agency.



The appointments last for six years.



According to the Washington Post's Dan Eggen , Bush made more than 100 such appointments, tapping associates to non-confirmable, obscure posts such as the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Commissions.



Roughly half of the jobs that Bush filled after Obama's election were given to donors who gave $1.9 million to Republicans since 2003. Twenty were filled by former Bush aides (Fielding was the White House Counsel, who sent the note to Rove about executive immunity in the fired US Attorneys case). Additional seats went to "old hands" at previous Republican presidencies, such as that of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.



Working for Nixon, it appears, has now become a tangible asset.



Many other positions are unpaid; valued more for how they look on a resume than the paychecks recipients can cash at the bank. Yet the process of their selection shows how important connections and donations remain -- even at the end of a presidency -- to securing lucrative politically-appointed jobs.



"Carlos M. Gutierrez, Bush's last commerce secretary, now sits on the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. James W. Holsinger Jr., whom Bush had nominated at one point to be surgeon general, snagged a seat on the fitness council, along with quarterback Eli Manning, figure skater Michelle Kwan and other athletic stars," Eggen notes. "Condoleezza Rice, in a customary move for former secretaries of state, was named to the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.



"Bush named a dozen appointees to the council that oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, including former chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten, former homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff, former attorney general Michael B. Mukasey, and Elliott Abrams, who was an aide to Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Two major GOP donors -- real estate billionaire Alan I. Casden and former public broadcasting chairman Cheryl F. Halpern -- were also on the list," Eggen added.



The World Bank post, while lucrative, isn't necessarily a cash cow; the agency's head said that most appointees never hear a case. Regardless, the job is worth its weight in Washington, where connections are invaluable in securing jobs -- particularly those involved in lobbying for laws.





