Obama named Lew as his budget office director in July 2010. Lew, 56, previously served in the State Department and was budget chief under President Clinton. He also has experience in Congress, having served as policy director for the late House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, a Massachusetts Democrat.

Lew played a role in such bipartisan deals as the 1983 Social Security Trust fund rescue and the 1997 balanced budget deal when he was Clinton's deputy budget director. Former Clinton budget director Alice Rivlin called Lew "a very skilled negotiator."

"He's quiet," she said. "He doesn't throw his weight around, but he gets the job done."

Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the former top-ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said Lew is respected by both parties as "a straight shooter."

"He's a partisan, but he's a fair guy," Gregg said.

A graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown Law School, Lew's background also includes academia, as chief operating officer at New York University for five years, and the private sector, as managing director of Citigroup Inc.'s Alternative Investments until January 2009 and chief operating officer of Citi's Global Wealth Management before that.

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