Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court has focused national attention on her Latino heritage and the history-making nature of her selection.
But the bright spotlight on Sotomayor has obscured a highly significant shift in the ways of Washington: President Obama has selected far more Hispanics for his administration than any previous president in American history.
Latinos comprise 11 percent of the new president's first 300 nominees for senior administration positions requiring Senate confirmation, according to the White House.
That shatters the 5.5 percent mark set by former President George W. Bush during the first 18 months of his presidency, according to Office of Management and Budget statistics. Bush had broken the previous record held by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, who filled 4.5 percent of his confirmable positions with Hispanic nominees.
In addition to 33 positions requiring Senate confirmation, Obama has chosen 26 Latinos for White House staff jobs -more than any of his predecessors. READ FULL STORY
Comments