Obama wants House

" ... The 66-year-old House spent the 1970s in D.C., serving under the likes of Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft ... "

By Scott Ross
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28913747/

Webster Bank exec Art House is heeding President Obama's call to service.

House will bring years of experience as a communications expert and in international affairs to his new job as communications director for the Director of National Intelligence, reports The Register Citizen.

"The opportunity, as I see it, is an opportunity to serve the country," House said Tuesday. "Quite honestly, international affairs is my field, and I'm looking forward to becoming re-engaged in it."

The 66-year-old House spent the 1970s in D.C., serving under the likes of Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft, and on the staff of three U.S. senators.

House will continue to live in Simsbury, rather than move to Washington.

"The greatest of luxuries is not leaving Connecticut," House said. "That's why they invented Southwest Airlines."
•••
Webster Communications Chief To Take Obama Administration Post
By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN
January 28, 2009

... As communications director, House will work with the House and Senate and the Washington press corps.

"There needs to be some repair work in the perception of how well national intelligence functions, both by the Congress and the public," he said.

House said his salary has not been decided.

House, 66, brings years of experience to the post, having spent all of the 1970s in Washington. That is where he met Blair; they were White House Fellows in the Ford administration. Under Ford, House worked for Brent Scowcroft and with Henry Kissinger as part of the national security staff.

House said he got a call from Blair soon after Obama was elected, saying he had been approached about serving as national intelligence director.

For the past several weeks, House has been splitting his time between Connecticut and Washington, helping Blair prepare for confirmation hearings.

In addition to government service, which included working on the staff of three U.S. senators and an earlier stint as an economist at the World Bank, House has headed corporate communications at Aetna, CIGNA and Tenneco. House has served in corporate communications at Webster for seven years.

"During Art's long affiliation with Webster, it was not uncommon for sitting U.S. senators, candidates for Congress, members of the Washington press corps and the occasional presidential candidate to call for advice on foreign affairs and other matters," Webster's chief administrative officer, Jeffrey Brown, wrote in a recent e-mail to employees announcing House's departure.

House leaves Webster at a time when the company is mired in rising bad loans tied to out-of-market lending. House said he was not seeking to leave the bank, nor was he asked to leave. House said he expects that his position will be filled.

House said he will not move to Washington but commute, coming home to his family in Simsbury on weekends.

"The greatest of luxuries is not leaving Connecticut," House said. "That's why they invented Southwest Airlines."

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-house0128.artjan28,0,5230246.story