Obama reappoints Fed Chairman Bernanke

OAK BLUFFS, Mass., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday announced the appointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second four-year term.

Appearing with Bernanke at a news conference in Oak Bluffs, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard where the president was vacationing with his family, Obama said Bernanke helped the country avoid a second Great Depression with his steady temperament and courage.

"Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall," Obama said.

During the past months, Bernanke, he said, faced one tough decision after another, including moves to "stabilize our financial system, to repair our credit markets, restructure our auto industry, and pass a recovery package."

In thanking the president, Bernanke said he remains focused on engineering an economic recovery.

"We have been bold or deliberate as circumstances demanded, but our objective remains constant: to restore a more stable financial and economic environment in which opportunity can again flourish and in which Americans' hard work and creativity can receive their proper rewards," he said.

Bernanke, a Republican, has received generally good marks for his handling of the recession, the newspaper said. However, he has also drawn fire for not preventing the collapse of the financial sector that preceded the global financial downturn.

Bernanke was appointed Fed chairman by former President George W. Bush to succeed former Chairman Alan Greenspan. His current four-year term was set to expire Jan. 31, 2010.