Obama expected to nominate former Fortune 500 CEO to head VA

President Barack Obama has chosen former Procter & Gamble Chief Executive Bob McDonald, an Army veteran, as his nominee to be the next secretary of the troubled Veterans Administration, a White House official told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

Obama's announcement is expected to be made this week, possibly on Monday. If confirmed by the Senate, McDonald, 61, would be tasked with repairing the Veterans Administration after widespread evidence that military veterans experienced delays in obtaining health care at its facilities. 

The announcement would come days after a White House review found significant and chronic failures across the board at the Veterans Administration and evidence that a "corrosive culture" prevails.

A senior administration official said Obama was attracted to McDonald by his corporate background and military service. He would succeed Eric Shinseki, a former United States Army general, who resigned late in May after the depth of the VA's problems became clear.

“This is definitely a surprising pick,” said Paul Rieckhoff, the chief executive and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America told the New York Times. “McDonald is not a name that was on anyone’s radar over the last few weeks. His branding background may prove helpful because there are few organizations in America with a worse reputation toward customers than the V.A. right now.”

But Rieckhoff added that because McDonald had “been away from the military for quite a while, he’ll have to move quickly to show he is committed to and understands the post-9/11 generation of veterans.

McDonald is the former chairman, president and CEO of Procter & Gamble. He retired a year ago after 33 years with the Fortune 500 company, where he started as a brand assistant in 1980 and rose through the ranks.

He served on the McKinsey Advisory Council, the Singapore International Advisory Council of the Economic Development Board, and on the boards of U.S. Steel and Xerox Corp.

Officials believe his lengthy tenure at Procter & Gamble prepares him well for overseeing a federal agency that provides services to more than 8 million veterans a year. He oversaw more than 120,000 employees, with operations around the world, selling products in more than 180 countries.

Having graduated in the top 2 percent of his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, McDonald served in the U.S. Army as a captain, primarily in the 82nd Airborne Division, and received the Meritorious Service Medal.

The top Republican in the House, Speaker John Boehner, called McDonald "a good man, a veteran and a strong leader with decades of experience in the private sector. With those traits, he's the kind of person who is capable of implementing the kind of dramatic, systemic change that is badly needed and long overdue at the VA."

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders said in a statement that he looked forward to meeting with McDonald next week to get his views on issues he views as important.

"Bob is an immensely gifted and caring individual. That was evident to me when we first met as cadets at West Point, over 40 years ago," retired Major General James "Spider" Marks said in a statement. "He came from a military family, and knows the challenges from living them."

American Express Chief Executive Ken Chenault, who served on the P&G board during McDonald's tenure, called McDonald a strong manager who knows how to make large organizations work effectively.

"Bob has a deep, personal commitment to serving our country that is as strong now as it was during his days at West Point. He's an excellent choice to set the right course for the Veterans Administration at a difficult time," Chenault said in a statement.

Corporate colleagues of McDonald repeatedly cited his management abilities in grappling with large and complex organizations.

Obama had assigned one of his top advisers, Rob Nabors, to the VA to help investigate agency issues and appointed Sloan Gibson as acting secretary while awaiting a permanent replacement.

Nabors and Gibson delivered a scathing report to Obama, citing "significant and chronic system failures" in the nation's health system. The report also portrayed the Veterans Affairs Department as an agency battling a corrosive culture of distrust, lacking in resources and ill-prepared to deal with an influx of new and older veterans with a range of medical and mental health care needs.

Al Jazeera and wire services