President-elect Barack Obama announced as expected that Hillary Clinton would be his top diplomat and Robert Gates would stay on as defense secretary.

President-elect Barack Obama on Monday officially introduced the members of his national security team, including former Democratic primary rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state and Robert Gates, who will be remain as defense secretary.

Obama also announced that retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones — a former top commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Europe — would be his national security adviser.

President-elect Obama stands with Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Clinton -- calling her nomination 'a sign to friend and foe.'

“I am confident that this is the team that we need to make a new beginning for American national security,” Obama told reporters during a morning news conference in Chicago.

Obama’s team will advise him on foreign and national security issues in an era marked by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorism around the globe. Obama takes office Jan. 20.

Obama said his team “must pursue a new strategy that skillfully uses, balances, and integrates all elements of American power: our military and diplomacy, our intelligence and law enforcement, our economy and the power of our moral example.

“The team that we have assembled here today is uniquely suited to do just that,” he added as his Cabinet picks stood behind him on a flag-draped stage. “They share my pragmatism about the use of power, and my sense of purpose about America’s role as a leader in the world.”

Obama named Washington lawyer Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Naploitano as homeland security chief. He also named two senior foreign policy positions outside the Cabinet, including campaign foreign policy adviser Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador.

Obama introduced Clinton first, saying of his former presidential rival, “She possesses an extraordinary intelligence and toughness, and a remarkable work ethic. … She is an American of tremendous stature who will have my complete confidence, who knows many of the world’s leaders, who will command respect in every capital, and who will clearly have the ability to advance our interests around the world.”

Clinton will give up her seat as a senator from New York to join the Obama Cabinet. Her appointment was preceded by lengthy negotiations involving her husband, the former president, whose international business connections posed potential conflicts of interest.

The former president also agreed to disclose the donors to the foundation that built his library, as well as contributors to his international foundation.

She said to Obama, in brief turn at the lectern, “Mr. President-Elect, I am proud to join you on what will be a difficult and exciting adventure in this new century.”

Sen. Clinton had scarcely finished speaking when her husband issued a written statement.

“She is the right person for the job of helping to restore America’s image abroad, end the war in Iraq, advance peace and increase our security, by building a future for our children with more partners and fewer adversaries, one of shared responsibilities and opportunities,” he said.

Gates said he was “mindful that we are engaged in two wars and face other serious challenges at home and around the world.”

“I must do my duty as they do theirs,” he said of the men and women in uniform in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. “How could I do otherwise?”

He said he was “honored to serve President-elect Obama.”

Gates’ appointment fulfilled a campaign promise by Obama, the naming of a Republican to his Cabinet.

Obama said Napolitano understands the need to protect against terror attacks and to respond to natural disasters — and that she also understands as well as anyone the danger of unsecured borders.

Obama now has half of the 15-member Cabinet assembled less than a month after the election, including the most prominent positions at State, Justice, Treasury and Defense.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/01/obama-unveils-national-security-team/

In his first television interview since his historic election, President-elect Barack Obama said he will do “whatever it takes” to stabilize the economy, restore consumer confidence and create jobs to getting sound health care and energy policies through Congress, and developing a national security team is priority one.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said that selecting his national security team is a top priority.

“I think it’s important to get a national security team in place because transition periods are potentially times of vulnerability to a terrorist attack,” Obama told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview broadcast Sunday. “We want to make sure that there is as seamless a transition on national security as possible.”

Sunday: Barack and Michelle Obama are interviewed on '60 Minutes' in First Interview Since Election (AP Photo).

In his first television interview since his historic election, Obama said he has spent the days since the election from doing “whatever it takes” to stabilize the economy, restore consumer confidence and create jobs to getting sound health care and energy policies through Congress.
The president-elect also said that as soon as he takes office he will work with his security team and the military to draw down U.S. troops in Iraq, shore up Afghanistan and “stamp out Al Qaeda once and for all.”

While investors are still riding a rollercoaster on Wall Street, Obama said the economy would have deteriorated even more without the $700 billion bank bailout. Re-regulation is a legislative priority, he said, not to crush “the entrepreneurial spirit and risk-taking of American capitalism” but to “restore a sense of balance.”

“There’s no doubt that we have not been able yet to reset the confidence in the financial markets and in the consumer markets and among businesses that allow the economy to move forward in a strong way,” Obama said. “And my job as president is going to be to make sure that we restore that confidence.”

Obama comes to the Oval Office with an ambitious list of campaign promises that will require Capitol Hill’s cooperation and approval, and the team he has been announcing in recent days is heavy on the legislative experience that Obama is lacking.

Obama resigned his Illinois Senate seat Sunday after just under four years of service, half of which he spent out on the presidential campaign trail.

During the campaign, Obama had Pete Rouse as his Senate chief of staff to take care of his business on Capitol Hill. On Sunday, Obama named Rouse to be a senior adviser in his White House. Rouse has 24 years of experience as a top Senate aide, also running the offices of former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Obama’s Illinois colleague, Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin.

Other names that have begun to roll out recently come with varying degrees of Washington experience. Obama is drawing on accomplished Chicago friends, longtime congressional aides and former Clinton administration officials, including some with ties to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The new chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, combines the Chicago roots and the legislative connections. Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain held the same role for Vice President Al Gore.

Obama has picked Mona Sutphen and Jim Messina as his deputy chiefs of staff. Like Rouse, Messina has served as chief of staff for three different lawmakers and has a vast network of relationships to show for it that he can tap on Obama’s behalf.

Philip Schiliro, who has more than 25 years experience working for Congress, is Obama’s liaison to Capitol Hill.

Biden, a longtime senator from Delaware, has said he intends to be a frequent voice on the Hill and use his 36 years of experience as a lawmaker to promote the administration’s agenda. That’s a departure from Vice President Dick Cheney, who only appeared occasionally on the Hill to meet with Republican members and cast a tie-breaking vote.

In the CBS interview, Obama also said Americans shouldn’t worry about the federal deficit for the next couple of years.

“The most important thing is that we avoid a deepening recession,” he said.

He said there hadn’t been enough done to address the plight of homeowners facing foreclosure.
“We’ve gotta set up a negotiation between banks and borrowers so that people can stay in their homes,” Obama said.

The president-elect also urged help for the auto industry.

Obama also confirmed reports that he intends to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and “make sure we don’t torture” as “part and parcel of an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.”

Obama also said he plans to put Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden in the crosshairs.

“I think capturing or killing bin Laden is a critical aspect of stamping out Al Qaeda,” Obama said. “He is not just a symbol, he’s also the operational leader of an organization that is planning attacks against U.S. targets.”

Read more at : http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/16/security-economy-precedence-obama-tells-cbs/