FINDLAY, Ohio -- President Bush obtained the surprise resignation of Edward Derwinski as his embattled secretary of vetarans affairs Saturday by creating a new job for him as deputy campaign chairman for ethnic coalitions.
Derwinski has been widely viewed by vets as being inadequately responsive to the needs of the nation's former service personnel, a key voting group.
'Recognizing that the most important issue facing our nation is the re-election of George Bush, I am resigning as secretary of veterans affairs to assume new duties as the Bush-Quayle deputy chairman for ethnic coalitions,' Derwinski said in a statement.
'This is an area where I have personal and professional experience and insight, in part through my own Polish heritage,' said Derwinski, who was named head of the Department of Veterans' Affairs in 1989 when it was elevated to a Cabinet-level agency.
Last week, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which endorsed Bush four years ago, said it would endorse neither Bush nor Democrat Bill Clinton this year.
The White House announced Derwinski's sudden departure from Bush's Cabinet as the president's campaign train traveled from Ohio to Michigan.
Deputy White House press secretary Judy Smith denied that Derwinski was pushed out to placate vets.
Smith said Bush offered Derwinski the campaign job, and that Derwinski could not accept it unless he resigned from the Cabinet.
Veterans' Affairs spokesman Dennis Boxx, asked about the veterans' complaints, said, 'Clearly there has been some friction between the service organizations and the secretary.'
But Boxx said that was not unusual for a Veterans' Affairs chief and added, 'This move of his going to the coalition he is doing purely because the president is asking him to help in the last six weeks of the campaign.'
The spokesman said Derwinski had worked 'very hard' during his tenure not to mix politics with his VA post, and had decided that to combine the post with the campaign job would 'really be politicizing the VA too much.'
Derwinski said Deputy Secretary Anthony J. Principi would take over administration of the department.
Bush campaign chairman Robert Teeter said in a statement that Derwinski 'will be a tremendous asset' in rallying support among the nation's diverse ethnic communities.
Derwinski, in a letter to Bush, tendered his resignation and accepted the president's offer to take the campaign post.
'Thank you for your confidence in my ability to be of service to you in the homestretch of the re-election campaign,' he said.
In a 'Dear Ed' letter, Bush accepted Derwinski's resignation with 'great regret,' and welcomed him to the campaign.
Derwinski was named as the first secretary of Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, Bush, in his letter Derwinski, said, 'I am grateful to you for helping lead the administration's efforts to protect veterans benefits while promoting more effective management of existing veterans programs.'
