"[Zoellick] has earned the trust and support of leaders from every region of the world. He is a committed internationalist. He is deeply devoted to the mission of the World Bank," Bush said at the White House.
Paul Wolfowitz, the outgoing president of the World Bank, will resign June 30 after waging a tenacious fight to hold onto his job following a scandal in which he secured a large pay raise for his companion.
Wolfowitz, 63, a former United States deputy defense secretary and a key architect of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, sparked outrage in the 185-nation development bank after arranging a promotion for Shaha Riza, with a salary of $200,000 - well above the normal level for her position.
During his two-year tenure at the bank, Wolfowitz became increasingly unpopular among anti-poverty campaigners over his decision to link aid to poor countries to anti-corruption measures to a greater extent than his predecessors.
It was widely alleged that the policy was applied selectively, favoring governments loyal to Washington, and providing a tool for strengthening U.S. global influence.
Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative, and most recently a Goldman Sachs executive, said the World Bank should cooperate with other organizations to implement its mission in the world.
As the U.S. trade representative between 2001 and 2005, Zoellick completed negotiations to bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization (WTO), and developed a strategy to initiate new trade negotiations at Doha, Qatar, in what became known as the Doha round.
Later as deputy secretary of state, he became the Bush administration's main author of its China policy as well as its approach to Darfur.
Following a 2005 visit to a Darfur refugee camp, he came to be seen as the administration's most ardent advocate on the situation in the Sudanese province.
