When President Jimmy Carter took office, Nixon-appointee Arthur Burns was the Chair of the Federal Reserve. President Carter recognized Burns's understanding of the business community, but Burns openly criticized the administration, acted against White House objectives, and (contrary to the administration's goals) prioritized fighting the era's accelerating inflation over unemployment. Consequently, the president asked Vice President Walter Mondale to create a list of candidates to replace Burns when his term as chair expired. The vice president presented a list of four names. Three (Miller, General Electric's Reginald H. Jones, and DuPont's Irving S. Shapiro) were successful CEOs of large corporations. These men were connected to Washington and the Carter Administration and in their own ways bridged policy and business. Within four days of receiving the short list, President Carter had narrowed it to Miller and the fourth suggestion: Bruce MacLaury, a trained economist with experience at the Treasury under Paul Volcker, at the Brookings Institution, and in different branches of the Federal Reserve System. When President Carter looked for a successor to Miller as Federal Reserve Chair in 1979, MacLaury was on the short list again (the CEOs Jones and Shapiro were not). As the president decided between Miller and MacLaury in 1978, the people he consulted (including Jones and Shapiro) unanimously favored Miller given his potential to provide leadership while learning technical details on-the-job. When the president spoke with Miller about the position, Miller expressed concern that he lacked the necessary background but agreed to serve in the role if the president wished it.