By Phillip Hudson, Canberra
March 12, 2006
GEORGE BUSH has nominated a university friend, Robert Davis McCallum jnr, to fill the job of American ambassador after leaving the job vacant for 13 months.
The US President and Mr McCallum both attended Yale and in 1968 were chosen as members of its elite and secret Skull and Bones society. The 170-year-old group boasts presidents, judges, diplomats and business chiefs among its ranks. It is believed exactly 15 university juniors are recruited each year by being "tapped" on the shoulder by seniors.
The appointment must be confirmed by the US Senate, meaning it could still be a few months before Mr McCallum arrives in Canberra.
Prime Minister John Howard welcomed the decision, saying Mr McCallum was well qualified.
He is currently associate attorney-general at the Department of Justice and before that was assistant attorney-general for the civil division.
He was a partner at Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird where he represented big tobacco companies. He is a Rhodes Scholar, has a master's degree from Oxford University and a bachelor's degree from Yale.
Despite the close relationship between Mr Bush and Mr Howard, Australia has been uncomfortable about the job being vacant since the departure in February last year of Tom Schieffer, another mate of Mr Bush who was a co-owner in the Texas Rangers baseball team.
Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer said the delay was "unforgivable" and the announcement was "long overdue and forced through by the proximity of (US Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice's visit" to Australia this week.
Australia's major newspapers are highlighting the personal relationship between the U.S.  President George Bush and his newly nominated Australian ambassador, Robert McCallum. Australian reporters Phillip Hudson of ''The Age'', and Mark Coultan of the ''Sydney Morning Herald'', have written stories examining the Bush/McCallum friendship which allegedly dates back to 39 years ago when they were inducted into the Skull and Bones society.

The Australian ambassadorship post had been vacant for 13 months, which former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer said was an "unforgivable" delay. The McCallum nomination on March 11 would replace the former ambassador Tom Schieffer who left the post in February 2005. United States President George W. Bush nominated McCallum on March 11th.,2006

McCallum is an associate attorney-general for the Department of Justice and previously represented big tobacco companies at an Atlanta law firm. He also has a master's degree from Oxford University and is a Rhodes Scholar as well as having a bachelor's degree from Yale.

The two Australian papers report on activities of Bush and McCallum in their younger years, and the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' alleges that personal connections were instrumental in the career advancements of both men. 

McCallum also made news last year when he overrode U.S. Justice Department lawyers who had been handling the government's tobacco racketeering trial for the past 5 years. McCallum ordered the lawyers to reduce the penalties sought at the close of the nine-month trial from $130 billion to $10 billion, angering some of the trial lawyers to the point where it is reported they threatened to quit their jobs. McCallum said the reduction was necessary as a matter of law.