Chicagoan to serve as ambassador to Britain

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has picked a retired Chicago investment banker as ambassador to Britain.

The White House on Wednesday announced a slate of top diplomats in capitals from Tokyo to Paris. The group fills many of the highest profile jobs in the foreign service and will be crucial representatives of Obama and his State Department with U.S. allies.

The plum London nomination went to Chicagoan Louis Susman, a retired vice chairman of Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking. Susman is a former Salomon Brothers employee. He won a commission appointment from President Ronald Reagan and was a director for the St. Louis Cardinals for more than a decade.

Soloman also has raised hundreds of millions in campaign donations for Democrats.