
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994                   TAG: 9406300061
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CLINTON REPLACES STAFF CHIEF

In the biggest shakeup of his administration, President Clinton replaced White House chief of staff Mack McLarty with budget director Leon Panetta on Monday, enlisting a tested Washington insider to take over from a low-key boyhood friend.

Changing staff at a pivotal moment in Congress' deliberations on health-reform and anti-crime legislation, Clinton said, ``No one in Washington has a better understanding of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue than Leon Panetta, and no one has earned greater respect at both ends.''

A former congressman who was chairman of the House Budget Committee, then a prime architect of Clinton's deficit-reduction strategy, Panetta signaled that other White House staff changes were likely to make ``the best use of the talent and abilities that are here.''

Clinton also said senior adviser David Gergen will move to the State Department to concentrate on foreign affairs in an interim step before leaving the administration. And Alice Rivlin, deputy budget director, was named to succeed Panetta, the first woman to head that office.

The changes, Clinton said, ``will add strength and vitality to this White House and to our administration.''

The turnovers will occur gradually, taking effect officially July 14. To curb any talk of disarray, Panetta and McLarty agreed to a round of interviews about the changes.

For months, rumors have swirled of a shakeup at the White House and in Clinton's foreign-policy team, as the president appeared to move from crisis to crisis, winning razor-thin legislative victories at the last possible moment.

While stepping down from the top staff job, McLarty will remain at the White House in a position of influence. ``He has been and will continue to be my closest and most trusted personal adviser,'' Clinton said.

McLarty is among the last of the Arkansas inner circle that accompanied Clinton to Washington. Deputy counsel Vincent Foster committed suicide, and deputy attorney general Webster Hubbell and White House administration chief David Watkins resigned.

McLarty had been criticized from the start for his lack of Washington experience and the perception among some critics that he wasn't tough enough. His nickname was ``Mack the Nice.''

by CNB