Harriet Miers withdraws her nomination, and President Bush picks Samuel Alito as his new appointee to replace Justice O'Connor. Meanwhile Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, plans for retirement.

After a couple of weeks as the punch-line to every joke told on late night television, Harriet Miers tucked tail and ran. Leaving people in Washington D.C. to wonder why.

She made it seem as if her previous work for the Administration would affect her hearings. She felt that the use of classified material from the time frame she worked at the white house would compromise the current administration.

In her Oct. 27, 2005 letter to George W. Bush withdrawing her nomination, Harriet Miers said, "I have steadfastly maintained that the independence of the Executive Branch be preserved and its confidential documents and information not be released to further a confirmation process."

So apparently she did not withdraw her nomination because she was tired of being the butt of all jokes.

She made it clear that many in the Senate were after sensitive documents from her work with the President.

The letter made it official, now the search was on for a new Judicial nominee.

President Bush then announced that Samuel Alito, a judge from New Jersey, would replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court bench.

"His addition to the Supreme Court will move the Court to the right and I suspect he will join the voting bloc of Scalia and Thomas, thus providing the conservative element with a fifth conservative vote," said Dr. Gary Rose, Professor and Chair of the Department of Government and Politics at Sacred Heart University.

"It is possible however that Justice Kennedy will feel obligated to move to the center as Justice O'Connor did in the interest of providing ideological balance, but this is speculative."

Samuel Alito is the son of an Italian immigrant who emphasized education and academic excellence for his children. As a result, he attended Princeton University then proceeded to attend Yale Law School where he also served as the editor of Yale Law Journal.

In 1972, when he graduated from Princeton, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Signal Corps then assigned to the Army Reserve.

Upon graduating from law school, he attended the Officer Basic Course from September to December of 1975, eventually assigned to the inactive Reserves.

He had the rank of Captain when he received an Honorable Discharge in 1980.

While he was in the reserves, he began a legal career that would eventually lead him to be a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1990.

On Oct. 31, President Bush announced to the American public that Alito was his new appointee to the Supreme Court.

President Bush stated, "[His record] reveals a thoughtful judge who considers the legal merits carefully and applies the law in a principled fashion,"said a representative from Wikipedia.com

"He has a deep understanding of the proper role of judges in our society. He understands judges are to interpret the laws, not to impose their preferences or priorities on the people."

The nomination was widely accepted by the Republican party, naturally drawing opposition from liberals and the Democratic party.

In all of the turmoil regarding the Supreme Court nominations, one appointment in Washington seems to not receive the recognition that it should.

The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve is the head of the central bank of the United States and one of the most important decision-makers in American economic policies.

On Oct. 24, President Bush appointed Dr. Ben Shalom Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Greenspan has served as the Chairman of the Fed for the past 18 years, he was first appointed by President Ronald Reagan on Aug. 11, 1987.

He will resign as the Chairman of the Fed Jan. 31 2006, but he will remain on the Board until 2008

"I think it's safe to say that the financial markets have had a love affair with Greenspan. His two major accomplishments were keeping inflation low and rapidly using monetary policy to deal with crises in the financial markets, like the market meltdown in October 1987 and the aftermath of 9/11," said Dr. Thomas Corrigan, associate professor of economics at Sacred Heart University.

"Bernanke inherits quite a legacy but his own legacy will be based on how he handles inflation, the current account deficit, the dollar, and those infrequent, but unpredictable, financial crises that will surely visit us in the future."

Greenspan has had a tremendous tenure as the Chairman and the thought of someone else taking the reigns could possibly shake up the world's financial markets.

The true test will be come Jan. 31, 2006, when Greenspan will be replaced by Bernanke.

The American public will now be able to experience the appointment of a new Justice to the Supreme Court, as well as the replacement of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.