Related: Bernanke to maintain continuity with policy under Greenspan

Bush listens after announcing Ben Bernanke as the new Federal Chief in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington D.C. October 24, (Reuters)

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bush on Monday nominated Ben Bernanke, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), to replace Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman.

    The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation. Bernanke, 51, was sworn in as chairman of the president's CEA in June 2005 after having served as a Fed board member since August 2002. He also was a professor at Princeton University and chairman of the economics department.

    It was said that Bernanke has a reputation as a straight-talking economist and a Republican who avoids telegraphing any ideology.

    While working at the Fed, Bernanke had pushed for the central bank to be more specific in its inflation objectives.

    But Greenspan, who took over as the Fed chairman in August 1987, has opposed setting a numerical target for inflation. The 79-year-old chief's term ends on Jan. 31 next year.

    Greenspan's first government service was as chairman of the president's CEA during the administration of President Gerald Ford in the 1970s.

    In 1987, when he was 61, Greenspan was first selected as Fed chairman by Ronald Reagan. He was re-nominated by the senior George Bush, and won two more selections for four-year terms by Bill Clinton.

    Under the leadership of Greenspan, the Fed began in 1996 for the first time to announce on the day of its meeting whether it had made any changes to the short-term interest rates the central bank controls.

    Local media had said that choosing a successor to Greenspan would be one of Bush's most important economic decisions as the Fed chief wields unequaled influence over US and world economic growth. Enditem