President Obama Appoints America’s First Female Central Bank Chief, Janet Yellen

The U.S. Senate Monday voted to confirm Janet

Yellen as the first woman to head the Federal

Reserve , replacing Ben Bernanke .

The Senate voted 56-26 to approve Yellen, who

becomes the 15th leader of the central bank.

President Obama said Yellen will be “a fierce

champion” for the American people “who

understands that the ultimate goal of economic and

financial policymaking is to improve the lives, jobs

and standard of living of American workers and their

families.”

“As one of our nation’s most respected economists

and a leading voice at the Fed for more than a

decade — and vice chair for the past three years —

Janet helped pull our economy out of recession and

put us on the path of steady growth,” Obama said in

a statement issued by the White House. “Janet is

committed to the Fed’s dual mandate of keeping

inflation in check while also addressing our most

important economic challenge by reducing

unemployment and creating jobs.

“And she understands that fostering a stable

financial system will help the overall economy and

protect consumers. I am confident that Janet will

stand up for American workers, protect consumers,

foster the stability of our financial system and help

keep our economy growing for years to come.”

About 15 minutes after the bipartisan vote, Sens.

Jeanne Shaheen , D-N.H., and Elizabeth Warren , D-

Mass., said they missed the vote because their plane

was delayed returning to Washington. Both senators

said they would have voted to support Yellen’s

nomination had they arrived in time.

In all, 17 senators were missing from the floor.

Bernanke’s term ends at the end of the month.

Previously, Obama had praised Yellen’s judgment,

citing her early warning about the housing bubble

and the recession.

Yellen, 67, is known as a strong advocate of the

Fed’s easy monetary policy, and with inflation at

less than 2 percent she is expected to keep the

Fed’s accommodative policies in place under her

leadership.

Yellen previously was president and chief executive

officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

and chairwoman of the White House Council of

Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton .

Yellen is married to George Akerlof, a Nobel prize-

winning economist and professor emeritus at the

University of California, Berkeley. Son Robert Akerlof

is an assistant professor at the University of

Warwick.