Cheney and the next Fed Chairman.

Senior Bush Administration strategists say the President is likely to adopt an approach to the choice of a new Chairman of the Federal Reserve significantly different from his approach to appointments to the United States Supreme Court. "Supreme Court appointments are the kind of thing would-be Presidents think about long before the New Hampshire primary," one strategist said. "They fixate on the type of individual they would appoint to the court."

The Federal Reserve, strategists say, is another matter. The President is not likely to become as intimately involved. True, the White House has already run a list of potential Fed Chairmen by the President who has crossed off individuals unwanted under any circumstances. In the end, senior strategists say that other than the President, the one individual likely to be the most influential behind the scenes is Vice President Richard Cheney. "The quiet hand of the Vice President will guide the process," the same strategist said. And who does Cheney relate to the most on economic matters? Cheney intimates say, hands down, that individual is economist Arthur Laffer who no doubt will be asked his opinion on personnel matters.

Supply-side economist Arthur Laffer: highly respected by the Vice President, he could provide advice in helping pick the next Fed chief