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Kelly grad named Homeland Security chief of staff(Beaumont Enterprise, The (Texas) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nov. 30--Chad Sweet, a Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School graduate, had quite the success as a private wealth management vice president with Goldman Sachs. But sometimes fiscal success isn't enough, he said, and after Sept. 11, he felt a calling to return to government service, which he left in the early 1990s. It happened this March when he was invited to become a special assistant to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and the accomplishments haven't stopped despite the career change. Sweet, 37, and previously a deputy chief of staff, earned a promotion Monday to chief of staff. He is the third-highest official in the federal government's second-largest department. "I feel incredibly humbled ... to have the confidence of the secretary and the president to try and work for the dedicated men and women who are out there every day on the homeland trying to protect our families," Sweet said. "It's a little bit daunting to think about how we can do better to support them in their mission." As deputy chief of staff, Sweet oversaw the interagency planning and policy for the National Guard deployment for Operation Jump Start, which attempted to curtail illegal immigration along the southwest U.S. border. In a released statement, Chertoff credited Sweet with re-engineering Chertoff's operational and intelligence briefings. "I will count on his extensive knowledge and strong professionalism in running the day-to-day business of the department," Chertoff said in the statement, "and I look forward to his continued contributions to the security of our homeland." In addition to his work with international investment banking and finance firms, Sweet, a 1991 graduate of Columbia University, worked for the CIA in 1991. In Houston, Sweet also successfully campaigned for George W. Bush's 2004 reelection and for Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul. Seemingly squeaky clean, Sweet even was an Eagle Scout while at Kelly High School, where he graduated in 1987. His good looks and honest nature earned him lengthy mention in a March 2004 Harper's magazine article on the Bush's Houston campaign fundraising. Sweet, who is married and recently became father to a baby girl, was described as "a perfect candidate to be raising money for George Bush in Houston. A handsome, dark-haired young banker who works for Goldman Sachs, Chad looks like a grown-up version of one of the rich-but-decent preppy characters on Fox's nighttime teen drama, 'The O.C.' " Equipped with the Midas touch, Sweet has found success wherever he's gone, his father, Dr. Leldon Sweet, said, but the older man finds extreme satisfaction in his son's recent government promotion. "For me, it's an incredible accomplishment," the Beaumont cardiologist said. "He's always been stellar in everything that he does, and he wanted to participate in the Bush administration, and he was given this opportunity. "He's proving himself beyond my wildest dreams." [email protected] (409) 880-0728 Copyright (c) 2006, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |