In November, President Bush nominated Margaret Spellings to succeed Roderick R. Paige as secretary of education. The Senate confirmed Ms. Spellings as the eighth United States secretary of education in January.
A trusted aide to President Bush, Secretary Spellings served during the first presidential term as assistant to the president on domestic policy, advising the president on issues such as health care, welfare reform, immigration, and job training. She previously served as Mr. Bush’s chief education advisor when he was governor of Texas.

“Margaret Spellings has a special passion for this cause,” President Bush stated during a ceremony in the White House’s Roosevelt Room. “She believes that every child can learn, and that every school can succeed. And she knows the stakes are too high to tolerate failure.”

Secretary Spellings, whom the president called an “energetic reformer,” played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in the crafting of the No Child Left Behind Act, which the president signed into law in 2002.

Before working for Mr. Bush in Texas, Secretary Spellings served as government-relations director for the Texas Association of School Boards, clerk for the Texas House education committee, and adviser to former Gov. William P. Clements, Jr. She grew up in Houston and is a graduate of the University of Houston.