Washington Post – President Obama nominated Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and promoted two other senior military leaders Monday, completing an overhaul of his national security team in advance of his reelection campaign.

Dempsey, who served two war tours as a commander in Iraq, was not believed to be Obama’s first choice. For more than a year, the president had been leaning toward Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, one of his most trusted military advisers. But Obama informed Cartwright on May 21 that he wouldn’t get the job because of opposition from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and outgoing chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, who butted heads with Cartwright over strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

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