Won't You Go Home, Bill Daley?

New White House chief of staff Jack Lew stands next to President Barack Obama on January 9, 2012.

Image: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

That didn’t last long.

After only a year as White House chief of staff, Bill Daley is going home to Chicago. President Barack Obama announced Daley’s departure today, saying the former Commerce secretary and JPMorgan Chase executive wanted to spend more time with his family, especially his grandchildren.

"There’s no question I’m going to deeply miss having Bill by my side here at the White House,” Obama said.

Business may miss Daley as well—his appointment was seen an olive branch to the business community. Daley has long been a strong supporter of free trade, for example, and in 2011 Obama finally presented to Congress free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.

Daley’s influence in the White House was limited, however. Daley relinquished his day-to-day responsibilities as Obama’s gatekeeper two months ago amid reports that he wasn’t getting along with other administration officials and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Plus, it appears Obama is now more interested in attacking corporate greed than he is in building bridges to business. So Daley’s services were no longer required.

The president named Jack Lew to replace Daley. Lew has been the director of the Office of Management and Budget—“not an easy job,” Obama noted.

“Jack’s economic advice has been invaluable and he has my complete trust, both because of his mastery of the numbers, but because of the values behind those numbers,” Obama said. ”Ever since he began his career in public as a top aide to Speaker Tip O’Neill, Jack has fought for an America where hard work and responsibility pay off, a place where everybody gets a fair shot, everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same rules. And that belief is reflected in every decision that Jack makes.”