Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs: Eric Shinseki

A Vietnam veteran ­ and missing a large part of his foot from an injury sustained in that war, ­ the four-star general was fired from the Bush administration in 2003 after clashing with then Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the number of troops needed for a successful invasion of Iraq. Shinseki suggested "several hundred thousand" more. As Obama says: "He was right". Among those welcoming the 66-year-old Asian-American into his job at the fourth largest cabinet office, with a budget of $90bn, are the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America who say "he has always put patriotism ahead of politics". There are some 25m veterans in America; post-traumatic stress disorder and the American recession are hitting them hard.

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 6, 2009