Donna A. Tanoue, the White House's leading candidate for chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., knows how to handle a banking crisis.
As commissioner of financial institutions in Hawaii in the mid-1980s, she led the more than $50 million bailout of the islands' industrial loan companies. The crisis was sparked by the 1983 collapse of Manoa Finance Co., which propelled the state's underfunded thrift insurance corporation into insolvency.
"She grew up real quick," said Walter A. Dods Jr., chairman of First Hawaiian Bank, who helped Ms. Tanoue craft an industry-led bailout of Manoa.
After a grueling legal and political battle, they pushed through the state Legislature in 1985 a rescue package of public and industry loans to be repaid through the sale of assets from several industrial loan companies.
Depositors got their principal in full, Mr. Dods said.
"She was a rock in that process," said Mr. Dods, who also is president of the American Bankers Association. "She did a great job. ... It was a very emotional issue in Hawaii."
Still, some question whether her experience is relevant to the challenges the FDIC faces today.
"She has possibly the same limitation that Ricki Helfer had-lack of an administrative background, particularly in the area of agency downsizing," said Bert Ely, a financial institutions consultant in Alexandria, Va.
But supporters said she has qualities that Ms. Helfer, who resigned June 1, sometimes was criticized for lacking.
For instance, Joseph F. Blanco, a friend who was treasurer when Ms. Tanoue ran the 1992 reelection campaign of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, lauded her "terrific people skills."
She enjoys widespread support among Hawaiian bankers. Lawrence M. Johnson, chairman of Bank of Hawaii, wrote in a July 18 recommendation to President Clinton that Ms. Tanoue is "exceptionally bright and talented" and well respected.
Ronald K. Migita, president of CB Bancshares in Honolulu, said Tuesday that Ms. Tanoue "did a good job" as banking commissioner. "She appears to be well qualified," he said.
Ms. Tanoue, a 43-year-old Georgetown University Law Center graduate, is a partner in Honolulu at Goodsill, Anderson, Quinn & Stifel, which is one of Hawaii's most prominent law firms. Bank of Hawaii and American Savings Bank of Honolulu are two of its clients. She specializes in banking, real estate, telecommunications, and government affairs.
Her husband, Kirk W. Caldwell, is a real estate lawyer, and they have a young daughter.
She declined to comment Tuesday.
Although Ms. Tanoue is not well known in Washington, her political connections were formidable enough to catapult her to the top of the White House's list, ahead of two Washington insiders-former National Credit Union Administration Chairman Lawrence Connell and former Office of Thrift Supervision Acting Director Jonathan L. Fiechter. She also is benefiting from the administration's drive to appoint more women to high-ranking posts.
David W. Roderer, a lawyer in the Washington office of the Goodwin, Procter & Hoar law firm, was one of several lawyers picked by Democratic Party officials to brief Ms. Tanoue in early July on the FDIC before her White House interview.
"I found her very impressive," he said. "She seemed to be well versed in banking law and banking matters-not a creature of Washington."
Sources close to the administration said Monday that Ms. Tanoue was the leading choice of senior White House officials and that they had launched an extensive background check. A formal nomination is not expected for at least four weeks.
