Bush Nominates Doc to Head Veteran Affairs

James B. Peake would be first physician and general to hold post
By Asta Hostetter,  Newser User
Posted Oct 30, 2007 9:31 PM CDT
Bush Nominates Doc to Head Veteran Affairs
This undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Army Medical Command shows retired Army Gen. James Peake. President Bush will nominate Peake on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007, to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs. (AP Photo/U.S. Army Medical Command)   (Associated Press)

President Bush today nominated James B. Peake, a doctor and retired Army lieutenant general, to head the Veteran Affairs department, the LA Times reports. With his medical and military backgrounds, Peake is the perfect choice to overhaul the nation’s system for treating wounded soldiers, Bush says. A major report earlier this month called for major improvements in the system.

Among recent miscues were the much-publicized shoddy treatment of wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the theft of millions of vets' medical records from the home of an analyst. If confirmed by the Senate, Peake would be the first physician and the first general to head the agency. (More James B. Peake stories.)

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