Obama wrapping up cabinet picks with Richardson

By Jeff Mason

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama moved swiftly toward wrapping up his cabinet appointments on Wednesday with the selection of rival-turned-supporter Bill Richardson as secretary of commerce.

Obama, who takes over from President George W. Bush on January 20, has unveiled a series of top staffing picks in the last 10 days, putting him far ahead of recent presidents in the pace at which he has nominated the officials who will help run his administration.

Just a month after his Nov. 4 victory over Republican John McCain, the former Illinois senator has picked his economic and national security teams, including New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary.

The stakes are higher for Obama than they were for his most recent predecessors. The new president faces the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and two U.S. wars abroad.

His selections so far have been aimed at showing he can tackle the recession deftly while also meeting his goal of improving the U.S. image abroad.

Richardson, who had hoped to become secretary of state but lost out to Clinton, another former presidential hopeful, will join the economic side of Obama's team, overseeing an agency that promotes U.S. exports to the rest of the world.

The New Mexico governor, a former United Nations ambassador and energy secretary under President Bill Clinton, will be able to tap his own international connections for his new post.

The commerce secretary is seen as the voice of the U.S. business community in the White House and is charged with promoting U.S. business interests overseas.