Leon Panetta

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Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American politician who has worked in many public service positions, including Secretary of Defense, Chief of Staff, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and as a California representative.

Panetta, a Democrat, served as Chairman of the Senate from 1977 to 1994, and as President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997.

He co-founded the Panetta Institute for Public Policy and served as a Distinguished Scholar to California State University President Charles B. Reed and as a professor of public policy at Santa Clara University. Panetta was nominated by newly elected President Barack Obama in January 2009 for the position of CIA Director.

Panetta was confirmed by the full Senate in February 2009.

Panetta, the CIA's director, oversaw the operation that brought down international terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Panetta was named as the Defense Secretary by Obama on April 28, 2011 to replace retiring Robert Gates.

Panetta was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in June and he took over the office on July 1, 2011.

David Petraeus took over as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in September 6, 2011.Since resigned as Secretary of Defense in 2013, Panetta has served as Chairman of The Panetta Institute for Public Policy, headquartered on the California State University's Monterey Bay campus, which he helped establish during his tenure as congressman.

The Institute is dedicated to preparing people for public service careers and assisting them in becoming more involved in the democratic process.

He has served on a variety of boards and commissions, as well as regularly writes and lectures on public policy topics.

Early life, education, and military service are all important.

Panetta was born in Monterey, California, the son of Carmelina Maria (Prochilo) and Carmelo Frank Panetta, two Italian immigrants from Siderno, Italy. The Panetta family owned a restaurant in Monterey in the 1940s.

He was born in Monterey and attended two Catholic grammar schools, San Carlos School (Monterey) and Junpero Serra School (Carmel). He attended Montef High School, a public school where he became interested in student politics, and he was a member of the Junior Statesmen of America. He served as a junior vice president of the Student Body, and as a senior, he became its president. He attended Santa Clara University, California, in 1956, and alumna Cum laude received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law in 1963.

He joined the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant, where he served as an Army Military Intelligence officer and received the Army Commendation Medal in 1964. He was first Lieutenant out of service in 1966 as a First Lieutenant.

Personal life

Panetta is married to Sylvia Marie Varni, who was in charge of his home district offices during his time in Congress. They live on a 12-acre (4.9 ha) walnut farm in the Carmel Valley, California, owned by his family. They have three sons and six grandchildren. Jimmy Panetta, a former Montegray County Deputy Attorney, gained election to his father's old congressional seat in 2016, now ranked in the 20th District.

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Political career

Panetta began serving in politics in 1966 as a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Thomas Kuchel, the United States Senate Minority Whip from California, whom Panetta has described as "a tremendous role model."

Under the Nixon administration, he became Robert H. Finch, Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He was appointed Director of the Office of Civil Rights within a few weeks.

Panetta decided to enforce civil rights and equal education laws over President Nixon's refusal, who wanted to continue to expand political esteem among Southern whites. Panetta was supported by Robert Finch and Assistant Secretary John Veneman, who refused to fire him, fearing to resign if compelled to do so. Panetta, who was forced out of office in 1970, moved to Washington to serve as Executive Assistant to John Lindsay, the then-Republican mayor of New York City (Lindsay will change sides the following year). In his 1971 book Bring Us Together, Panetta wrote about his Nixon administration experience.

From 1971 to 1976, he returned to Monterey to practice law at Panetta, Thompson & Panetta.

Panetta, like Lindsay, defected to the Democratic Party in 1971, citing his conviction that the Republican Party was moving away from the political center. Panetta was elected to the United States Congress in 1976 to represent California's then-16th congressional district, defeating incumbent Burt Talcott by 53%. He would never face another election that was so close, and was reelected eight times. (After the 1990 census, the 16th district became the 17th district and is now the 20th district in the 20th district.) It includes all of Monte Rico and San Benito Counties, as well as the city of Santa Cruz, as well as the city of Santa Cruz. (The northern portion of San Luis Obispo County was also included in Panetta's first election.)

Panetta primarily referred to budget issues, education, medicine, agriculture, and environmental security, particularly the prevention of oil exploration off the coast of California. He drafted the Hunger Prevention Act (Public Law 100–435) of 1988 and the Fair Employment Practices Resolution. He authored legislation establishing the Monte Bay National Marine Sanctuary and one that provides Medicare coverage for hospice care. He was aided in the establishment of CSU Monte Montey Bay at the former Fort Ord military base by Chancellor Barry Munitz of CSU.

Senator Alan Cranston also helped create the Big Sur National Scenic Area. The bill would have paved a 700,000-hectare (280,000 ha) scenic area managed by the United States Forest Service. Up to $30 million to buy land from private land owners, up to $30 million for easements and management services, and a state plan for a statewide area of 75 miles (121 km) long and 5 kilometers (8.0 km) wide along the Big Sur coast was released.

Senator S. I. Hayakawa, of California, and Big Sur residents opposed the bill. Local residents blasted the scheme as "Panetta's Pave 'n' Save," as well as a more than $100,000 raised to lobby against the plan. Hayakawa, a member of the Energy Committee, opposed the bill and did not get a vote.

Panetta, a member of the House Budget Committee from 1979 to 1989, and its chairman from 1989 to 1993, was instrumental in the 1990 Budget Summit.

His positions included:

Panetta served in the House in 1993 but after President-elect Bill Clinton nominated him to head the State Office of Management and Budget, he resigned at his ninth term. He conceived the budget plan that would eventually result in the 1998 budget balance.

President Clinton became increasingly concerned about a lack of order and attention in the White House in 1994, a problem that ranged from foreign policy to domestic policy and political topics. Panetta was asked to become President Clinton's first chief of staff, replacing Mack McLarty. "Panetta replaced McLarty for the remainder of Clinton's first term," says author Nigel Hamilton. The rest is history." To be a great king, a modern president must have a top chief of staff, and in Leon Panetta, Clinton obtained the enforcer he deserved." Panetta was appointed White House Chief of Staff on July 17, 1994, and he served in that position until January 20, 1997. He was a key negotiator of the 1996 budget, which was another significant step toward returning the budget to balance.

President-elect Barack Obama declared on January 5, 2009, that Panetta will be named as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Journalists and politicians expressed doubt about Panetta's lack of intelligence, even though he served as a military intelligence officer in the 1960s. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, Chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, expressed reservations that she was not consulted about the Panetta appointment and said that "the Agency is best-served by having an intelligence specialist in charge at this moment."

Panetta was a logical choice, considering the President's close personal link to him and his CIA bureaucracy's lack of access to the CIA bureaucracy. In addition, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said that Panetta did have links to intelligence as both the OMB's Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton, where he "sat in on the daily intelligence briefings as the country's most classified intelligence and covert action departments in his previous work as director of the Office of Management and Budget."

Panetta was confirmed in the full Senate by voice vote on February 12, 2009.

Panetta was sworn in as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency by Vice President Joe Biden on February 19, 2009, before a large audience of CIA employees. Panetta's new subordinates allegedly gave him a "rock star warm-welfare."

Panetta, the former CIA director, travelled extensively to intelligence outposts around the world and met with global leaders to combat Islamic extremism and Taliban attacks. During George W. Bush's tenure as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he conducted a clandestine review of torture by the CIA (euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation methods). The report, which was supposed to be published by 2014 as the "Panetta Study," sheds a series of memoranda that "shed a particularly harsh light" on the Bush-era interrogation effort, according to The New York Times. "The attempt to write the C.I.A.'s detention history was fraught from the start," the Times reports. During his first week in office in 2009, President Barack officially ended the service. The intelligence committee announced its intention to have a hard look at the scheme, but there was no enthusiasm inside the [Obama] White House to consent to the committee's request for all classified C.I.A. It's cables that connect it." According to reports, the Panetta Review concurred with much of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on CIA torture in its factual accounting. Both studies were mainly seen as an attempt at fact-finding and prevention, but not necessarily in a governmental direction towards any potential scheme of accountability or punishment for previous interrogation or torture.

Panetta endorsed the Obama administration's support for drone strikes in Pakistan, which he described as the "most effective weapon" against senior al-leaders. Drone attacks in Panetta have soared sharply, with as many as 50 suspected al-Qaeda fighters killed in May 2009 alone.

Panetta, the CIA's Director, oversaw the hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and played a vital role in the operation in which bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011.

The CIA pioneered workplace rights and protection for LGBT employees under Panetta; the organization, for the first time, introduced legislation expanding healthcare to same-sex employees.

President Obama announced Panetta's appointment as a replacement for retiring Secretary Robert Gates on April 28, 2011. In a rare 100–0 vote on June 21, 2011, the Senate confirmed Panetta. On July 1, 2011, he was sworn in.

Panetta's first major act as Defense Secretary was to jointly notify the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the military was ready to ban "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which resulted in the termination after 60 days.

Panetta cautioned in August that deeper cuts in the defense budget would jeopardize the military and stymie Pentagon plans to deal with rising powers such as China, North Korea, and Iran, and Iran, and he cautioned that under President Barack Obama's debt reduction law, which will see the decrease of defense budget cuts over the next decade. Panetta created a new defense plan for the 21st century after consulting with military and civilian officials at the Department of Defense.

Panetta's tenure began funding the military in the face of tightening budget constraints. He also warned that future service members could see shifts in retirement plans, and that the military healthcare system could need to be redesigned to reduce costs, while still ensuring quality care.

The Obama administration's diplomatic attempt to discourage Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons was another big topic during Panetta's tenure as Defense Secretary. Panetta said in January 2012 that nuclear weapons development was a "red line" that Iran would not be allowed to cross—and that the US was keeping all options, including military ones, open to completely prohibiting it. Iran would not be allowed to block the Straits of Hormuz, according to He.

Panetta announced in January 2013 that women would be allowed to enter all combat-related posts in the military, shortly before his departure from the Defense Secretary's post, citing an analysis phase in which "the executive branch of service will investigate all its civilian units and units not currently integrated and then produce a timeline for integrating them."

Panetta and his wife Sylvia founded the Panetta Institute for Public Policy in December 1997 and served as co-directors until 2009, when Panetta was named CIA director by President Obama. He has since returned to the institute in the role of chairman, while his wife is co-chair and CEO, supervising the institute's day-to-day activities. Panetta, a congressman from California State University, Monterey Bay, was instrumental in the establishment of the decommissioned Fort Ord Army base. Panetta was stationed in Fort Ord in the 1960s during his time as an Army intelligence officer.

Panetta served on the board of UC Santa Cruz University as a Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of California State University and as a Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University. During the recall election in 2003, he was encouraged to run for Governor of California, but he declined in part due to the short time available to raise the necessary campaign funds.

Panetta has long been known as a champion of the world's oceans. During his time in Congress, he served as chairman of the Pew Ocean Commission, which in 2005 collaborated with the United States Commission on Ocean Policy to develop the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, which was in addition to enforcing regulations and encouraging the passage of ocean protections such as the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Admiral James D. Watkins, US Navy, co-chairs Panetta's Joint Ocean Commission Initiative. (Ret.) and continue to serve as a Commission member. Panetta also works as an advocate and information source for other ocean groups, including the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Panetta was a member of the presidentially-appointed Iraq Study Group, or Baker Commission, which investigated potential changes in US policies in Iraq in 2006.

Panetta's memoir Worthy Fights, in which he recalled his long career in public service, was published in 2014. Panetta's book contained some gaps in the President's policies in Syria and Iraq, although largely supportive of his assessment of the Obama presidency. "By struggling to convince Iraq's leader to authorize a slew of US troops, the commander in chief "created a vacuum," Panetta said. .. .. And it's out of the vacuum that ISIS began to produce."

He routinely gets compensation for speaking engagements, including from the Carlyle Group. Booz Allen Hamilton Hamilton Hamilton is also a Booz Allen Hamilton supporter.

Panetta appeared on Day 3 of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, in which Hillary Clinton was nominated to run as the Democratic nominee in the presidential race that year. Bernie Sanders' speech was booed by anti-war campaigners who booed his war record, ironically.

Panetta told CBS News that the Nunes Memo, which purported to provide intelligence about the ongoing Russian investigation, could jeopardize national security.

In August 2021, Panetta compared Kabul's fall to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in 1961, saying that "President Kennedy was to blame for what happened." I strongly recommend to President Biden that he take responsibility... admitting to the errors that were made."

Panetta wrote a letter in October 2020 stating that the Hunter Biden laptop controversy "has the requisites of a Russian information operation." Panetta joined 50 other senior intelligence officials in signing the letter, which said that Hunter Biden's laptop had "all the typical earmarks of a Russian disinformation mission" because it contained potentially damaging information to the Biden campaign. However, the laptop's authenticity has been confirmed in 2022 by several media outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post.

Panetta was co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader Dick Gephardt and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey in October 2022 as part of the Council for Responsible Social Media Project, which was launched by Issue One in October 2022 to address the negative social, civic, and public health risks of social media in the United States.

Panetta has worked in a variety of industries and companies, including::

Panetta was elected to the National Review Board in June 2002, which was established to look into the Catholic Church's sexual harassment scandal. Panetta's pro-choice stance on abortion and other topics that were seen as contradictory with those of the Church led to controversy.

Panetta is also a member of the Partnership for a Secure America's bipartisan Advisory Board. The Partnership is a non-profit group based in Washington, DC, that supports bipartisan approaches to national defense and foreign policy problems.

Panetta serves on the Committee to Investigate Russia's Advisory Board.

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Awards

• 1966: Army Commendation Medal
• 1969: Abraham Lincoln Award, National Education Association
• 1983: Foreign Language Advocate Award, Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
• 1983: Ralph B. Atkinson Award for Civil Liberties, Monterey County Chapter of the ACLU
• 1984: A. Philip Randolph Award
• 1988: Golden Plow Award, American Farm Bureau Federation
• 1991: President's Award, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
• 1991: Coastal and Ocean Management Award, Coastal Zone Foundation
• 1993: Peter Burnett Award for Distinguished Public Service
• 1995: Distinguished Public Service Medal, Center for the Study of the Presidency
• 1997: Special Achievement Award for Public Service, National Italian American Foundation
• 2001: John H. Chafee Coastal Stewardship Award, Coastal America
• 2002: Law Alumni Special Achievement Award, Santa Clara University School of Law Alumni Association
• 2003: Julius A. Stratton "Champion of the Coast" Award for Coastal Leadership
• 2005: Received an honorary Doctorate from University of Wisconsin–Parkside
• 2005: Received an honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Northeastern University
• 2006: Paul Peck Award
• 2012: Intrepid Freedom Award, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
• 2012: Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement
• 2014: Excellence in Policy, Peter Benchley Ocean Awards
• 2015: Dwight D. Eisenhower Award, National Defense Industrial Association
• 2018: Sylvanus Thayer Award from the United States Military Academy
• 2019: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun