Janet Yellen

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Janet Yellen, vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, smiles as President Barack Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, where the president announced he is nominating Yellen to be chair of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Ben Bernanke. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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President Obama nominated Janet Yellen, a loyal lieutenant of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, to become the first woman to head the century-old central bank on Wednesday.