Mccain: Warren Buffett a Candidate for Treasury secretary

DENVER (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday listed investor Warren Buffett and former eBay chief Meg Whitman as potential Treasury secretaries in his administration but declined to say if he would consider asking current Secretary Henry Paulson to stay.

McCain, in an interview with Reuters, noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had a "set term" said as president he would decide whether to reappoint Bernanke based on economic conditions at the time.

The U.S. financial crisis and $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill in the U.S. Congress has heightened interest in who would steer Treasury in the next administration.

"I think it would be someone that Americans would recognize that would inspire trust and confidence," the Arizona senator said of his potential pick for the office. "There's people like (Cisco chief executive) John Chambers, there's people like Meg Whitman, there's people like Warren Buffett," he continued, adding that those people could serve in one of many jobs that would need to be filled.