Obama called Rooney a "great friend" during a White House ceremony to mark St. Patrick's Day. "I know he is just going to do an outstanding job. And the people of Ireland, I think, will benefit greatly from his representing the United States there."
Rooney, 76, is a longtime Republican who endorsed Obama during Pennsylvania's Democratic primary. He also campaigned on Obama's behalf in the western part of the state that is home to the Steelers. The team won this year's Super Bowl.
Obama's move comes as foreign-policy experts urge the president to eschew the long-standing practice of filling the diplomatic ranks with political allies. Typically, about a third of ambassadorships go to such supporters, according to the non-partisan advocacy group American Academy of Diplomacy.
Ronald Neumann, the group's president, wants Obama to limit political appointees to roughly 10% of diplomatic posts. Neumann is a former career diplomat who served as ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain and Afghanistan under Democratic and Republican presidents.
The global political and economic issues "are too important these days to send people who aren't qualified," he said.
In a January news conference, Obama said he wanted to build a larger pool of career diplomats, but said it would be "disingenuous" for him to say he would not install political allies in U.S. embassies.
"Are there going to be political appointees to ambassadorships?" he said at the time. "There probably will be some."
David Lewis, Vanderbilt University political scientist and the author of The Politics of Presidential Appointments, said giving coveted ambassadorships to political supporters is a "relatively low-risk way for presidents to repay campaign debts."
"You are not putting them in Sudan. … You are not putting them in the Middle East," he said. But the practice could make it harder "to recruit the best people in the foreign service if all the best assignments" go to political appointees, Lewis added.
All but one ambassador to Ireland since 1927 have been political appointees, according to the State Department. Rooney last year gave $30,000 to a Democratic Party committee that aided Obama's campaign, according to CQ MoneyLine, a non-partisan group that tracks political contributions.
Rooney has long ties to Ireland. In 1976, he helped found the American Ireland Fund, which has raised more than $300 million for peace and education projects, according to a White House news release. He also awards an annual prize in Irish literature.
He is best known as an owner of the Steelers. Rooney chaired an NFL committee that adopted the "Rooney Rule," requiring teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching vacancies. Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin is African American.
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