BACK SCRATCHING

Obama Taps Fundraiser as UK Ambassador

Did president sell off post to the highest bidder?

President Obama will nominate key Democratic fundraiser and investment banker Louis Susman to be the country's ambassador to the Court of St. James. Susman bundled $300,000 in donations towards Obama's inauguration, and was a major fundraiser for Senator John Kerry's campaign as well. Susman, 71, retired in February from his post as vice chairman of Citigroup. Ambassadorships are frequently meted out as rewards to a successful campaign's high-rollers. Obama said in January that he would probably appoint some top donors as ambassadors: "It would be disingenuous for me to suggest that there are not going to be some excellent public servants but who haven't come through the ranks of the civil service," he said.