Another Defeat for Obama … Larry Summers Withdraws Name from Consideration as Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Larry Summers, Barack Obama’s preferred choice to head the Federal Reserve withdraws his name for consideration for Fed chair. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Summers called President Obama to announce the withdrawn his name for consideration to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman. Obama accepted his resignation.

For Lawrence H. Summers, President Obama’s preferred candidate to lead the Federal Reserve, the messy debate over a military attack in Syria was the final sign.

After weeks of opposition to his candidacy from an array of progressives, the president’s inability to rally Congressional Democrats on Syria persuaded Mr. Summers that his most important audience — the Senate, which must confirm a Fed chairman — probably could not be won over.

He concluded that the White House was also unlikely to overcome opposition to his candidacy from many of the same Democrats, who view him as an opponent of stronger financial regulation, according to supporters who insisted on anonymity to describe confidential conversations with him.

“Clearly Obama couldn’t bring his own most enthusiastic supporters to back him on an issue of national security,” one supporter said. “How was he going to corral them for Larry?”

And like with a military strike on Syria, it was not the GOP that doomed Summers with his chances to become FED chair, it was the Democrat opposition. Summers got no love from Democrats and even less support from Obama who failed to convince Congress that Summers should be the next Fed chair.

Larry Summers on Sunday withdrew his name from consideration as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a defeat for President Barack Obama — who could not convince members of his own party to shelve their opposition to his former top economic adviser.

Summers, who previously served as Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, director of the National Economic Council and president of Harvard, notified President Barack Obama of his decision with a phone call Sunday morning