Robert Rubin, 1999 News

61, public official, resigned as Secretary of the Treasury in May to return to New York City with his wife and resume a private life. Since he was appointed in 1995 by President Clinton, unemployment levels fell to the lowest levels since the 1960s, there was a budget surplus, and the stock market soared. Lawrence Summers replaced Rubin in July. Summers' nomination seemed a shoo-in, but Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) threatened to hold up the nomination after President Clinton appointed James C. Hormel, the heir to the Hormel meat-packing business, as Ambassador to Luxembourgh while the Senate was out on recess, a practice that is legal, though not popular with senators. Hormel is openly gay and a deep-pocketed contributor to the Democratic Party.