Bush unveiled the Cabinet seat for Ashcroft, who lost a bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate to a candidate killed in a plane crash weeks before the election.
"John Ashcroft will perform his duties guided by principle, not by politics," Bush said during the announcement. "He will be faithful to the law, pursuing justice without favor. He will enforce the law and he will follow the truth."
Also, Bush handed the top job at the GOP to Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, who will hold on to his gubernatorial seat while heading the party.
Bush said of Gilmore: "He is a fellow who knows what it means to set an agenda, build consensus to achieve an agenda, and lead. And he's going to make a really good chairman of our party."
Gilmore will replace Jim Nicholson at the party's top spot.
Ashcroft, 58, if approved by the Senate, would head the U.S. Justice Department, succeeding Attorney General Janet Reno, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Ashcroft, a Republican, opposes abortion rights and is a favorite of staunch conservatives.
"The pursuit of liberty and equal justice for every citizen requires that we foster integrity in the nation's highest law enforcement office," Ashcroft said. "President-elect Bush, you have my word that I will administer the Department of Justice with integrity, advise your administration with integrity, and I will enforce the law of the United States of America with integrity."
Perhaps the most controversial of Bush's Cabinet picks, Ashcroft served eight years as Missouri attorney general and state auditor, then two terms as governor before his election to the U.S. Senate in 1994. There he served on the Judiciary, Foreign Relations, and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees. He also served as chairman of the Constitution and Consumer Affairs subcommittees.
Ashcroft was narrowly defeated for re-election as governor in November by Gov. Mel Carnahan who died Oct. 16 along with his son and a campaign aide in a plane crash. The Missouri Constitution bars the change of a ballot so close to Election Day and Carnahan's successor said he would appoint Carnahan's wife, Jean, to take the Senate seat if Ashcroft lost the election. Jean Carnahan will be sworn into the Senate next month.
Ashcroft opted not to file a lawsuit over the outcome of the election even though he considered legal and political challenges to deny Carnahan a posthumous win. Questions were raised after Election Day over allegations that a Missouri judge illegally ordered polling stations in St. Louis to remain open three hours past the scheduled closing time of 7 p.m. An appeals court ordered polls there closed at 7:45 p.m. A day later, a tearful Ashcroft told supporters he would not back a legal challenge to the election outcome.
Known for his conservative stances as a lawmaker, Ashcroft's appointment was seen widely as a nod to the GOP conservatives, who were reportedly miffed as Bush tapped relative moderates for key posts, such as retired Gen. Colin Powell for State and Paul O'Neill for Treasury – in addition to Gov. Christine Todd Whitman to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Asked whether conservative elements of the GOP were in touch with Bush as the president-elect considered appointments for socially sensitive posts, like heads of Education and Health and Human Services, spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "There is a process where we talk to people, we listen to people. But this is his [Bush's] determination, his decision."
Fleischer said the GOP was "very unified" behind Bush and pooh-poohed speculation that some Republicans were pressing Bush to appoint more conservatives to the administration.
"I think, frankly, this is the much-ballyhooed watch for something that does not exist in terms of various wings of the party," Fleischer said.
The appointments were likely the last announcements until Bush returns to Washington Thursday after a holiday break.
Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, known for his innovative welfare reform policies, is expected to be named head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Former Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., who was a member of Senate Armed Services Committee, remained a contender for the Defense Department and supports Bush's push for a stronger military. Also under consideration for defense secretary were Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Armitage, former Pentagon officials who served under Vice President-elect Dick Cheney when he was secretary of defense.
In Washington, the Bush transition team beefed up its staff, with the president-elect appointing a host of high-level liaisons to oversee the handoff of materials from various federal agencies to the incoming White House.
Bush was also continuing to make follow-up calls to congressional leaders to discuss a recent education powwow the president-elect hosted in Austin, Fleischer said.
Fleischer also said Bush's nascent congressional relations team was at work on the same issue, which will be the first item on the president-elect's legislative agenda.
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