And his secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, is not a dominant figure in the tradition of John Foster Dulles or Henry Kissinger.

ECONOMIST: Foreign policy

The Fed chairman is usually a dominant figure.

ECONOMIST: The Federal Reserve

But Mr. Sonderling, a 53-year-old financial adviser, became a celebrity of sorts for allegedly being the dominant figure in a "bondage" relationship whose details were disclosed this week by the New York Post, a newspaper owned by News Corp.

WSJ: Sex Scandal Damages Wall Street's Cleaner Image