New Cabinet post: Director of Homeland Security

Gov. Tom Ridge

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, a Vietnam War combat veteran appointed by President Bush to head the newly created Cabinet post of the Office of Homeland Security, says he will resign his current job on October 5.

"It is an honor to serve your country at anytime, but now, more so than ever," Ridge said from his state's capital of Harrisburg, shortly after he attended Bush's Thursday night address to the nation in Washington earlier in the evening

The new Cabinet-level position has been created to coordinate a unified federal plan to combat domestic terrorism. A senior administration official described the job as a domestic version of the National Security Adviser.

The Office of Homeland Security will bring together information from dozens of agencies, including the FBI, CIA, National Guard, and state and local law enforcement and emergency authorities.

RESOURCES White House: More on President Bush's Cabinet

The director will piece together a comprehensive strategy to protect potential targets, including transportation and electrical infrastructures, according to a senior administration official.

The Bush initiative also creates a national anti-terrorism director that will serve in the National Security Council, as well as an office of cyber-security.

It's too early to tell how the Office of Homeland Security will affect U.S. domestic terrorism policy. Congressional leaders, like Senator Joseph Lieberman, have suggested that federal legislation would be required to provide the budget and authority necessary to make the office work.

'I will give it everything that I have'

"I think it's all right to admit that I'm saddened that this job is even necessary, but it is necessary, so I will give it everything that I have," Ridge said.

Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker will take over as Pennsylvania governor in a transition Ridge predicted will be "seamless."

Ridge, 56, was sworn in as governor in 1995. He was re-elected in 1998, and was to serve until 2003.

He was mentioned as a potential running mate in Bob Dole's 1996 campaign and in Bush's 2000 campaign, before Bush decided on Cheney.

Ridge fought in the Vietnam War in the infantry and received the Bronze Star for Valor, according to the governor's Web site.

He graduated from local Roman Catholic schools, worked summers as a union laborer and attended Harvard University on a scholarship. He graduated with honors in 1967 and enrolled in Dickinson Law School before being drafted at the end of his first year.