U.S. stock markets are continuing to plummet, and two days after the United States elected Barack Obama as its new leader, the economic crisis in the country is deepening. How to revive the struggling economy is one of the toughest issues America's 44th p
He has already started to form an administration to run the country. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat and former Clinton administration official, has been appointed as Obama’s White House Chief of Staff. 49-year-old Emanuel is a former ballet dancer and the son of a doctor. Emanuel’s father is said to be a former member of the Irgun, a Zionist group that operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948. In addition to choosing his future administration, Barack Obama has received his first top-secret national security and foreign intelligence briefing from the CIA. He will continue to have briefings like this over the next couple of weeks along with President Bush, who has promised to do everything necessary to make sure the transition of power goes smoothly. Obama will officially take office on January 20, but he already has to think about how to deal with George Bush's legacy. “We are facing the most serious problems since the great depression he's going to choose people that are going to work together and get things done,” believes Andrew Kuchins of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. When George Bush won the White House in 2000 it was hard to predict what the men and women he would choose to be at his side would get the U.S. into. The transition won't be easy – two wars in the Middle East might move Obama to keep some of Bush's team by his side. Evidently, he won't be able to let some veterans go. “I think it could be current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Of course, it's more likely he will stay on as Defense Secretary for a while,” says Andrew Kuchins. The economic crisis expected to worsen means either Obama or one of his people will have to work closely with the Author of the 700 Billion dollar bailout Henry Paulson. “He will choose the Treasury Sec early and they will work with Paulson before Obama takes office. It very well might be someone from the democratic administration in the 1990s,” believes Clifford G. Gaddy, US Foreign Policy expert. Meanwhile – in the campaign trail Obama hinted at Warren Buffet, an American investor rated the richest man in the world by Forbes in the first half of this year. And we're likely to see more of Rahm Emanuel in the years to come. Emanuel looks set to be Obama's Chief of Staff. He’s a former Clinton aid, big democratic player and close friend of Obama, who could play a key role in forming the Obama dream team.