Obama introduced retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones as his National Security Adviser. Jones, operating inside the White House, will be charged with melding military and diplomatic policy and with helping Obama navigate the two bureaucracies. The three other Cabinet selections announced Monday were Eric H. Holder Jr. as Attorney General, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security and Susan Rice as US Ambassador to the United Nations.

“I am confident that this team is what we need to make a new beginning for American national security,” Obama said after introducing each member. “And as we move forward, with respect for America’s tradition of a bipartisan national security policy and a commitment to national unity, we have to recall that when it comes to keeping our nation and our people safe, we are not Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans.” The trio of Clinton, Gates and Jones represents a centrist team that has angered some of Obama’s most ardent liberal supporters, who had expected a foreign policy team with left-leaning credentials.

But as he did in choosing his economic team, Obama favoured experience over ideology in forming his national security cabinet.