No sooner had President Bush announced the selection of Henry “Hank” Paulson Jr. as his next Treasury secretary than some conservative activists were lodging complaints. The Competitive Enterprise Institute issued a press release condemning the nomination as “an unfortunate mistake,” and complaining about Mr. Paulson’s role as chairman of the Nature Conservancy, an environmental group. Steven Milloy of the Free Enterprise Action Fund also opposed the nomination, in part because of Mr. Paulson’s environmentalism. The Senate will sort that out in confirmation hearings, no doubt bearing in mind the bipartisan consensus – certainly a belief of President Bush – that environmental protection and economic growth aren’t necessarily inconsistent.

Our own view is that Mr. Paulson’s decision to accept the nomination – after months of insisting publicly that he was not interested – says something remarkable about America and the Bush administration. As chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Paulson was the top guy at the top bank in the top city in all of capitalism. He earned more than $38 million last year. Yet, at age 60, he’s stepping down to join the final two years or so of the Bush administration, going to work for a president with approval ratings in the mid-30s who has, by many accounts, so far not made the Treasury Department particularly central to policymaking.

In brief remarks yesterday, Mr. Paulson sounded the right note. “Our economy’s strength is rooted in the entrepreneurial spirit and the competitive zeal of the American people, and in our free and open market,” he said. The Treasury Department can play an important role not only in economic policy but also in the financial aspects of the war on Islamist terrorists. If confirmed, if Mr. Paulson does as good a job leading the Treasury as he did leading Goldman Sachs, he’ll be an asset to the administration and to the country. But merely by agreeing to be nominated, he’s sent an important signal of confidence in President Bush and in America, indicating that public service in wartime is more important than money, and that for all the talk of its floundering lame-duck status the Bush administration is still more than capable of attracting top-flight talent.

As for Goldman Sachs, it appears likely that its new chief will be Lloyd Blankfein, described in a recent Bloomberg article as “a postal worker’s son who grew up in public housing in Brooklyn” and who “says he couldn’t have graduated from Harvard in 1975 without financial aid.” Which is an accession that would, in its own way, itself send a message, much as Mr. Paulson’s decision does, about the strength of America.