Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama has assembled a cabinet of seasoned political leaders and former rivals who will take the reins under some of the most difficult circumstances any incoming administration has ever faced: a year-long recession and two running wars.

In a reassuring sign for a worried public, Obama moved quicker than any other president in recent decades to nominate his cabinet secretaries. Obama's team, if confirmed by the Senate, would include former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, and two Republicans.

The Senate has begun confirmation hearings on some of the picks. A summary of Obama's cabinet and top adviser choices:

- Clinton as secretary of state: The initial frontrunner for the Democratic nomination and eventually defeated by Obama brings a familiar face to the top diplomatic post. The 61-year-old senator from New York and former first lady has built up her foreign policy credentials during eight years in the Senate.

- Robert Gates, 65, as secretary of defence: Gates has run the Pentagon under President George W Bush for two years, and oversaw the controversial troop surge in Iraq. His appointment ensures a seamless transition at the Defence Department while the nation fights two wars. Because he currently holds the job, his selection does not require Senate approval.

- James Jones, 65, as national security advisor: The retired Marine general and supreme commander of NATO would be responsible for coordinating the policies of the various national security agencies.

- Leon Panetta, 70, to head the CIA and retired Navy admiral Dennis Blair, 61, to become director of national intelligence: Blair would coordinate the espionage activities and analyses of the nation's 16 intelligence organizations and lead the president's daily intelligence briefings.

- Tim Geithner as secretary of the Treasury Department: With Geithner, 47, Obama seeks continuity with his economic team amidst the deepening recession and complex financial crisis. As head of the Federal Reserve Bank's New York branch since 2003, Geithner has been the central bank's chief contact with Wall Street financial firms scrambling to avoid collapse. The rest of Obama's economic team includes Former Clinton treasury secretary Larry Summers, 54, to become the White House's top economic advisor. Paul Volcker, 81, the former head of the Federal Reserve, will top a new economic advisory board.

- Eric Holder as attorney general: Set to become the first African-American to head the Justice Department. Holder, 57, has pledged to restore balance to an agency criticized for overstepping its powers in the war on terrorism.

- Janet Napolitano as Secretary of the Homeland Security Department: The 51-year-old Arizona governor is to lead the agency created in 2002 to better shore up border security and other tasks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

- Steven Chu as secretary of the Department of Energy: Obama's choice of the 60-year-old Nobel-prize winning physicist and leading voice on alternative energy shows intent to revamp the US response to global warming. Obama has pledged to force the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters in the United States to pay for the climate damage they produce.

- Ken Salazar, 53, as head of the Department of the Interior and and Tom Vilsack, 58, as head of agriculture: Salazar, a Colorado senator with Hispanic background, and Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, would be key parts of Obama's energy policies and efforts to wean the country off dependence on foreign oil.

- Eric Shinseki as head of the Department of Veterans' Affairs: The 66-year-old retired general and former Army chief of staff fell into disfavour during the Bush administration after he told Congress that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to secure Iraq, contradicting then-defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who put the figure in the 150,000-range prior to the 2003 invasion.

- Tom Daschle, to head the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary: The 61-year-old former senator is to revamp a health system that excludes more than 40 million people from insurance coverage.

- Other picks include: Latino former congresswoman Hilda Solis, 51, to head the Department of Labour; Republican Ray La Hood, 63, as secretary of the Transportation Department; Shaun Donovan, 42, for the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, 44, to head the Department of Education; and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk, 54, as US trade representative.

- Obama has not named anyone to head the Commerce Department since his first candidate, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, withdrew his name because of an investigation into a company that did business with the state's government. (dpa)