After a first term in which Bush's policy consisted mainly of repeated rounds of tax cuts approved on party-line votes, the president now is trying to build bipartisan support for creating private accounts under Social Security and overhauling the tax code.
Some critics had argued that Bush needed to reshuffle his economic team because Snow lacked the stature to push those changes through.
"There was this sort of panic" within the administration, a sense that "we're just not ready, we need to revamp everything," said economist Daniel Mitchell at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "They wound up with a situation that was very unfortunate and very unfair to John Snow."
For more than a week, as speculation mounted, White House officials had declined to say whether Snow would be staying. Earlier Wednesday, McClellan told reporters he could not comment on the Treasury secretary's job status. A senior administration official who requested anonymity said Wednesday afternoon's session had been the first opportunity for Bush and Snow "to sit down and talk" about Snow's future.
"John Snow's treatment over the last few weeks has been disgraceful," said economist Bruce Bartlett, a former Treasury official in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. "White House heads should be rolling over this."
Despite the president's public endorsement, however, some observers said they feared Snow's reputation had been tarnished by the internal leaks and external clamor for a new Treasury secretary.
"The episode is likely to leave him a diminished figure, with people still guessing about his longevity, unless the White House does more to embrace him," said David Gergen, a Harvard political analyst who has advised Republican and Democratic presidents.
Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), who headed the Wall Street firm of Goldman Sachs before running for office in 2000, said Snow faced a daunting task even if he emerged from the embarrassment of recent days with his stature intact.
"Secretary Snow is an able individual," Corzine said. "But if the message he has to deliver is that we have to privatize Social Security and borrow another couple trillion dollars, it's not the kind of message that works for the American economy. The policies are wrong; therefore the messengers will have a hard time selling them."
Snow is the former chairman of the railroad company CSX Inc.; he has a law degree and a doctorate in economics.
