Retired Vice Adm. Mike McConnell, a veteran of more than 25 years in the intelligence field, will be named by President George W. Bush to succeed John Negroponte as national intelligence director, a senior administration official said Thursday, according to AP. Negroponte will move to the State Department to become the No. 2 to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Bush administration sought to dispel any suggestion that Negroponte's shift was a demotion. Bush personally reached out to Negroponte, an experienced diplomat, to take over the long-vacant job as deputy secretary of state, the official said.
