President-elect Barack Obama is sending former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach to Washington for this weekend’s international summit.
President Bush indicated before the presidential election that he’d invite the winner to attend the G-20 summit, a gathering of heads of state from 20 countries — representing the world’s largest economies.
Former Congressman Leach, a Republican, endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in August and Obama has asked Leach and former Secretary of State Madeline Albright to attend the meeting as his envoys. Leach was a member of Congress for 30 years and once served as chairman of the House Banking Committee.
Leach was also a member of the International Relations Committee and has attended several international conferences on financial and banking issues. Leach is currently a professor at Princeton.