Greenspan: Will Accept Another Fed Term
Wednesday April 23, 4:52 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Wednesday he would accept a fifth term as head of the world's most powerful central bank if President Bush nominates him, putting him on course to become the longest-serving Fed chief ever.
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"If President Bush nominates me, and the Senate confirms his choice, I would have every intention of serving," Greenspan said in a brief statement issued Wednesday.
"The President and I have not discussed this but I greatly appreciate his confidence. I have been privileged to be appointed by five Presidents to various positions," said the statement by the central bank chairman, who was recuperating from successful surgery on his prostate on Tuesday.
Speculation about Greenspan's future arose in February after he questioned whether the nation's economy needed the proposed $726 billion tax cut proposed by Bush.
On Tuesday, Bush said he supported nominating Greenspan to head the bank for another term.
Earlier on Wednesday the White House put the onus on the 77-year-old Fed chairman to answer whether he wanted another term, declining to say what Greenspan thought of Bush's backing.
"It's a question you need to direct to Mr. Greenspan. I don't speak for him," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (News).
A Fed spokeswoman said Greenspan was at home on Wednesday after successful surgery on his prostate Tuesday. He is expected to be back in his office later in the week.
Greenspan's current four-year term as Fed chief is set to end in June 2004. Should he stay on into 2006, he could surpass the record set by William McChesney Martin, who served from April 1951 to January 1970. Greenspan originally took the chairman's office on Aug. 11, 1987 |
