Washington ? Beginning to put his team in place for his second term, President Bush decided to keep Andy Card as White House chief of staff, retaining an unflappable veteran of the Reagan and first Bush presidencies.

Card’s first assignment: help the president reshape the administration for the term that begins in January, sorting through possible personnel changes in the Cabinet and elsewhere.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the subject of his future did not come up in several meetings with Bush since the election.

“Needless to say, either one of us would discuss it with the other before discussing it with you,” Rumsfeld told a roomful of reporters. Rumsfeld aides have said they expect him to remain in the job for the start of Bush’s new term, although whether he aims to stay the full four years is unclear.

A Treasury Department official in charge of keeping tabs on the nation’s financial markets, including Wall Street, announced that he intends to leave his post at the end of December. Brian Roseboro, the department’s undersecretary for domestic finance, revealed his intentions in a resignation letter to Bush.

Top White House officials are said to be leaning on many of their subordinates to stay in place, part of an effort to maintain stability. Card has the lead role, but Clay Johnson, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, who led Bush’s transition into the Oval Office in 2001, and Dina Powell, assistant to the president for personnel, are intimately involved in White House discussions on second-term personnel.

By accepting an invitation to continue serving, Card, 57, ensured his place in history as one of the longest-serving chiefs of staff. The last staff chief who served five years was Sherman Adams, whose boss, President Eisenhower, created the position.

“The Chief,” as Card is known at the White House, was appointed four years ago this month, even before the 2000 recount was resolved.