Paul Bremer
Bremer responding to reporter during a Pentagon news briefing. (September 26, 2003)
Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq
In office May 12, 2003 – June 28, 2004
Prime Minister	Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum (Acting) Ibrahim al-Jaafari Ahmed Chalabi Ayad Allawi Jalal Talabani Abdul Aziz al-Hakim Adnan Pachachi Mohsen Abdel Hamid Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum Massoud Barzani Ezzedine Salim Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer Ayad Allawi
Deputy	Jeremy Greenstock
Preceded by	Jay Garner
Succeeded by	Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer (Acting President)
United States Ambassador to the Netherlands
In office August 31, 1983 – August 25, 1986
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	William J. Dyess
Succeeded by	John Shad
Personal details
Born	(1941-09-30) September 30, 1941 (age 70) Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Frances Winfield
Children	2
Alma mater	Yale University Harvard Business School Sciences Po Paris
Profession	Diplomat
Religion	Roman Catholicism[citation needed] Episcopalian (Formerly)[citation needed]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Letter to L. Paul Bremer

Lewis Paul "Jerry" Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is an American diplomat. He is most notable for his role as the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority charged with overseeing Iraq's occupation after the 2003 invasion. He reported primarily to the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and exercised authority over Iraq's civil administration. He served in this capacity from May 11, 2003, until June 28, 2004.

Early life and career[link]

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Bremer was educated at New Canaan Country School, Kent School and Phillips Academy. Bremer's father was president of the Christian Dior Perfumes Corporation in New York. His mother was a lecturer in art history at the University of Bridgeport. Bremer graduated from Yale University in 1963 and went on to earn an MBA from Harvard University in 1966. He later continued his education at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, where he earned a Certificate of Political Studies (CEP).

That same year he joined the Foreign Service, which sent him first to Kabul, Afghanistan, as a general services officer. He was assigned to Blantyre, Malawi, as economic and commercial officer from 1968 to 1971.

During the 1970s, Bremer held various domestic posts with the State Department, including posts as an assistant to Henry Kissinger from 1972–76.^[1] He was Deputy Chief of Mission in Oslo, Norway from 1976–79, returning to the US to take a post of Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State, where he remained from 1979–81. In 1981, he was promoted to Executive Secretary and Special Assistant to Alexander Haig.

Ronald Reagan appointed Bremer as Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1983 and Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism in 1986^[2] (and Coordinator for Counterterrorism). Bremer retired from the Foreign Service in 1989 and became managing director at Kissinger and Associates, a worldwide consulting firm founded by Henry Kissinger. A Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, Bremer received the State Department Superior Honor Award, two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards, and the Distinguished Honor Award from the Secretary of State. Before rejoining government in 2003, he was Chairman and CEO of Marsh Crisis Consulting, a risk and insurance services firm which is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., a trustee on the Economic Club of New York,^[3] and a board member of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Akzo Nobel NV, the Harvard Business School Club of New York^[4] and The Netherlands-America Foundation. He served on the International Advisory Boards of Komatsu Corporation and Chugai Pharmaceuticals.

Bremer was appointed Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism by House Speaker Dennis Hastert in 1999. He also served on the National Academy of Science Commission examining the role of Science and Technology in counterterrorism. Bremer and his wife were the founders of the Lincoln/Douglass Scholarship Foundation, a Washington-based not-for-profit organization that provides high school scholarships to inner city youths.

Bremer and 1,700 of the employees of Marsh & McLennan had offices in the World Trade Center. Bremer's office was in the North Tower. In an interview with CNN after the Sept 11 attacks, he claimed that their office was located "above where the second aircraft hit."^[5]

Governor of Iraq[link]

Bremer arrived in Iraq as the U.S. Presidential Envoy on May 2003, and on May 11 replaced lieutenant general Jay Garner as Director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. In June, the Office was transformed into the Coalition Provisional Authority, and Bremer, as U.S. Administrator of Iraq, became the chief executive authority in the country.^[6][7]

As the top civil administrator of the former Coalition Provisional Authority, Bremer was permitted to rule by decree. Among his first and most notable decrees were Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 1 which banned the Ba'ath party in all forms ^[8] and Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2 dismantled the Iraqi Army.^[9]

On July 13, 2003, Bremer approved the creation of an Iraqi Interim Governing Council with the stated mission of "ensuring that the Iraqi people's interests are represented." The council members were chosen by Bremer from among groups and individuals which had supported the American invasion of Iraq. Bremer retained veto power over the council's proposals. The council was authorized to select a limited number of delegates to key Coalition Provisional Authority committees, like the Program Review Board.

Bremer also empowered the CPA to develop and implement of the Iraqi constitution. The constitution however, turned into a controversial subject, when its first draft submitted by the CPA suggested banning political parties opposed to the US occupation from participating in elections; privatizing much of Iraq's industries and natural resources; and allowing the unelected Iraqi Interim Governing Council to sign a binding Status of Forces Agreement between Iraq and the United States. On March 1, 2004, after several hours of negotiations, the Iraqi Interim Governing Council resolved the disagreements the council members had with clauses in the constitution. A formal signing ceremony was scheduled for March 5, 2004. As the guests waited and the orchestra played, the signing was canceled due to mass demonstrations among Iraq's population. The official signing finally took place for an interim constitution, to be revised or replaced by a second constitution after Iraqi elections, on March 8, 2004.

On June 28, 2004 at 10:26 AM local time, the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority formally transferred limited sovereignty of Iraqi territory to the Iraqi Interim Government, two days ahead of schedule. Bremer departed from the country on the same day. In his farewell speech broadcast on Iraqi television, he said, "I leave Iraq gladdened by what has been accomplished and confident that your future is full of hope. A piece of my heart will always remain here in the beautiful land between the two rivers, with its fertile valleys, its majestic mountains and its wonderful people..."

Bremer's office was a division of the United States Department of Defense, and as Administrator he reported directly to the United States Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States. His senior adviser Dan Senor served as coalition spokesman, working with military spokesman Mark Kimmitt.

Bremer's role as the head of the CPA is notable for being the subject of much criticism. Large sums of money have been reported to have gone missing under Bremer's leadership.^[10] Bremer's attempts at privatizing much of Iraq's infrastructure and mineral wealth were also highly criticized.^[11] and Bremer's decision to disband the Iraqi Army is widely credited for fueling the Iraqi insurgency against the American occupation.^[12][13]

John Negroponte replaced Bremer as the highest ranking American civilian in Iraq.

Post-Iraq[link]

This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. Please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure. (January 2011)

After his return from Iraq, Bremer engaged in a few speaking tours. On December 14, 2004, Bremer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W Bush,^[14] America's highest civil award for "especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." "He was also presented with the Department of Defense award for Distinguished Public Service and the Nixon Library^[15] honored him with the "Victory of Freedom Award" for "demonstrating leadership and working towards peace and freedom."^[16]

Bremer's April 18, 2005 visit as a guest speaker to Clark University, lead to protests against his role in the Iraq War.^[17] Dissatisfied with Bremer's speech and answers, several students also voiced disappointment at their university for having paid him $40,000 to appear.^[18] Another appearance, scheduled for the public library of his hometown, New Canaan, Connecticut, on January 18, 2006, was moved to the private St. Luke's School in the same town for fear for protests. During a February 27, 2006 public appearance at Lynchburg College, where his sister-in-law is an assistant dean, Bremer insisted that his decision to disband the Iraqi military was the correct one.

Among other things, Bremer repeatedly asserted that when he came to Iraq, the Iraqi army had abandoned its barracks, and therefore "there was no army to disband". He also repeatedly defended his decision to expel Baath Party members from government posts by comparing Saddam Hussein with Adolf Hitler.^[19]

On February 6, 2007, Bremer appeared before a Congressional committee investigating fraud and abuse and was questioned about missing funds during his tenure as head of the CPA and to respond to conclusions from a January 2005 audit report, including the missing $8.8 billion U.S. of Iraq's money and the chosen accounting method of these funds.^[20][21]

Bremer currently serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board for GlobalSecure Corporation, a company whose focus is "on securing the homeland with integrated products and services for the critical incident response community worldwide,".^[22] and on the board of directors of BlastGard International, Inc., a company located in Florida that manufactures materials to mitigate the impact of explosions. (Standard and Poor's Register)

In November 2010, Bremer joined World T.E.A.M. Sports, an Arlington, Virginia-based non-profit organization, as CEO and President. Bremer also serves as a member of the organization's board of directors.^[23]

Bremer is a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute.^[24]

Criticism and controversies[link]

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Disbanding of the Iraqi Army[link]

On May 23, 2003 Bremer issued Order Number 2,^[25] in effect dissolving the entire former Iraqi army and putting 400,000 former Iraqi soldiers out of work.^[26]

The move was widely criticized for creating a large pool of armed and disgruntled youths for the insurgency. Former soldiers took to the streets in mass protests to demand back pay. Many of them threatened violence if their demands were not met.^[27][28]

It was widely asserted within the White House and the CPA that the order to disband the Iraqi Army had little to no practical effect since it had "self-demobilized" in the face of the oncoming invasion force. This was revealed to be false, however, insofar as the CIA had conducted psychological operations against the Iraqis, such as dropping leaflets over the Army's positions prior to the invasion. The leaflets ordered the Iraqi Army to abandon their positions, return to their homes, and await further instructions.

Bremer was later heavily criticized^[29] for officially disbanding the former Iraqi Army. Bremer, however, contends that there were no armies to disband. He claimed that many soldiers simply left after the fall of Baghdad; some to protect their own families from the rampant looting. Critics claimed his extreme measures, including the firing of thousands of school teachers and removing Ba'ath party members from top government positions, helped create and worsen an atmosphere of discontent. As the insurgency grew stronger, so did the criticisms. Bremer was also in personal danger because of Iraqi perceptions of him and was henceforth heavily guarded. Attempts to assassinate him took place on numerous occasions - one of the more publicized attempts occurred on December 6, 2003 when his convoy was driving on the dangerous Baghdad Airport Road while returning to the fortified Green Zone. The convoy was hit by a bomb and gunfire, with the rear window of his official car blown away and as bullets flew, Bremer and his deputies ducked below their seats. No injuries or casualties were reported and news of the assassination attempt on Bremer was not released until December 19, 2003, during his visit to Basra.

During Bremer's stay in Iraq, the Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden allegedly placed a bounty of 10,000 grams of gold on Bremer, the equivalent of US$125,000 at the time.^[30]

Despite the messages the CIA reportedly communicated to the Iraqi army, the argument was still ventured that by the time Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003 the previous Army had demobilized, or as Bremer puts it, "had simply dissolved...." However, as Mark Danner reports in an essay in The New York Review of Books entitled 'Iraq: The War of Imagination' and dated September 21, 2006, American agents - including one colonel and a number of CIA operatives - had already began meeting regularly with Iraqi officers in order to reconstitute the army as a working force. Implied in this is the notion that the army - temporarily "demobilized" or not - did in fact continue to exist as a coherent entity, indeed coherent enough that it could be consulted and negotiated with. This seems to concur with the position of the first Director of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, ex-General Jay Garner, who Bremer had replaced. As Bob Woodward reports in his book State of Denial, Garner, upon hearing of the order to disband the army, attempted to convince Bremer to rethink the dissolution. Bremer was reported as saying: "The plans have changed. The thought is we don't want the residuals of the old army. We want a new and fresh army." To this, Garner replied: "Jerry, you can get rid of an army in a day, but it takes years to build one."^[31]

The issue of disbanding the old Iraqi Army found itself, once again, the center of media attention with two articles explaining why Bremer ostensibly did not make the decision on his own. The first press release by the New York Times included a letter written by Bremer to President George W. Bush dated May 20, 2003 describing the progress made so far since Bremer's arrival in Baghdad, including one sentence that reads "I will parallel this step with an even more robust measure dissolving Saddam's military and intelligence structures to emphasize that we mean business."

The second press release dated September 6, 2007 was submitted by Bremer as an Op Ed piece for the New York Times. Titled "How I Didn't Dismantle Iraq's Army", Bremer says he did not make the decision on his own, and that the decision was reviewed by "top civilian and military members of the American government"; which included General John Abizaid, who briefed officials in Washington that "'there are no organized Iraqi military units left'".

Bremer’s article goes into further about how the Coalition Provisional Authority did consider two alternatives: To recall the old army or to rebuild a new army with "both vetted members of the old army and new recruits." According to Bremer, Abizaid liked the second alternative.

Bremer also details the situation he and the major decision makers faced; especially when the large Shiite majority in the new Army could have had problems with the thought of having a former Sunni officer issuing orders.

Furthermore, a memo from U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on May 8, 2003 that said "the coalition 'will actively oppose Saddam Hussein's old enforcers - the Baath Party, Fedayeen Saddam, etc...'we will make clear that the coalition will eliminate the remnants of Saddam's regime'" was sent to both National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell.^[32]

After two protesters were killed by U.S. troops, the CPA agreed to pay up to 250,000 former soldiers a stipend of $50 to $150 a month. Conscripts were given a single severance payment.^[33] Many of the former soldiers found this to be grossly inadequate.^[34]

Charles H. Ferguson, director of critically acclaimed No End in Sight, created a video response to Bremer's Op Ed piece on September 6, 2007. (This was the very first New York Times video Op Ed letter in history.)

"De-Ba'thification" of the Iraqi civil service[link]

Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath Party counted among its members a huge majority of Iraq's governmental employees, including educational officials and some teachers. By order of the CPA, these skilled and mostly apolitical people were banned from holding any positions in Iraq's new government and public service. Critics claim these extreme measures, resulting in the firing of thousands of school teachers and removing Ba'ath party members from top government positions, helped create and worsen an atmosphere of discontent among those who did not "fit in" with the socioeconomic profile the Americans wanted to impose. This policy of "de-Ba'thification", now widely seen as having created bitter, new divisions in the country, and fuelling the violence that has torn Iraq apart, was reversed in January 2008.^[35][36]

Bremer was once again warned of the harm his actions would have. According to Woodward, when Garner asserted that none of the ministries would be able to function after this order, Bremer asked the Bahgdad station chief for his thoughts. "If you put this out, .... you will put 50,000 people on the street, underground, and mad at Americans," he replied. Woodward: "And these 50,000 were the most powerful, well-connected elites from all walks of life."^[37]

Management of Iraq's oil revenue[link]

Bremer was accountable to the Secretary of Defense for the actions he took. But, since his authority to spend Iraq's oil revenue derived from United Nations Resolution 1483, he was also accountable to the UN. The authority he derived from the UN to spend Iraq's oil revenue bound him to show that:

• Expenditures were intended to benefit the Iraqi people.
• The programs that were funded were decided upon, and supervised in an open, transparent manner.
• Iraqis were invited to give meaningful input into how funds were spent.
• The administrator of Iraq was co-operating with the International Advisory and Monitoring Board.
• That proper fiscal controls were in place, so that it could be demonstrated that none of the funds were diverted, or mis-spent.

One of the concerns the IAMB raised repeatedly was that the CPA had repaired the well-heads and pipelines for transporting Iraq’s oil, but they had stalled on repairing the meters that were necessary to document the shipment of Iraqi oil, so it could be demonstrated that none of it was being smuggled.

In their final press release^[38] before the CPA’s authority expired, on June 22, 2004, the IAMB stated:

The IAMB was also informed by the CPA that contrary to earlier representations the award of metering contracts have been delayed and continues to urge the expeditious resolution of this critical issue.

The CPA has acknowledged that the failure to meter the oil shipments resulted in some oil smuggling — an avoidable loss of Iraq's oil that was Bremer's responsibility. Neither Bremer nor any of his staff has offered an explanation for their failure to repair the meters.

Inadequate financial controls[link]

Failure to perform month-end cash reconciliations[link]

Under Bremer’s stewardship the CPA requested $12 billion in cash from the US treasury. Under Bremer’s stewardship the CPA paid out $12 billion in cash. The external auditors management notes^[39] point out that the CPA didn’t perform a cash reconciliation until April 2004, eleven months into Bremer's mandate, when they started their work. See Congressional hearing when Ambassador L. Paul Bremer and Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, testified on management of U.S. funds in Iraq.^[40]

Failure to employ qualified internal auditors[link]

In his second regulation,^[41] Bremer committed the Coalition Provisional Authority to hire a reputable firm of certified chartered accountants, to serve as internal auditors, to help make sure the Coalition's finances were administered according to modern accounting principles. These internal auditors would be separate and distinct from the external auditors who would report to the International Advisory and Monitoring Board. Bremer did not make sure the CPA hired internal auditors, however.

When the external auditors arrived, they learned that Bremer had not made sure the CPA lived up to the commitment to hire internal auditors to help set up a reliable accounting system. On the contrary they learned that a single contracted consultant kept track of the CPA’s expenditures in a series of spreadsheets.

The external auditors reported that rather than use a modern double-entry accounting system the CPA used what they described as “a single-entry, cash based, transaction list”.

Unaccounted-for funds[link]

On January 30, 2005, an official report^[42] by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, cited by Time, stated that $9 billion for the reconstruction of Iraq might have disappeared in frauds, corruption and other misbehavior. On one particular salary register, only 602 names among 8206 could be verified. As another cited example, the Coalition Authority authorized Iraqi officials to postpone declaring the reception of $2.5 billion, which the provisional government had received in spring through the Oil for Food program.^[43]

Bremer wrote an eight-page reply to deny the accusations and stated that, during the IG's inquiry, Bowen's people refused to interview Bremer's deputies, and the IG's report failed to mention that Bremer and his people worked under extraordinary conditions, faced a high turnover rate, and had insufficient number of personnel to carry out their rebuilding and humanitarian relief efforts.

Bremer's claim that Bowen's staff made no attempt to interview his staff is at odds with the detailed account of the external auditors, of their attempts to meet with Bremer and his staff. In their management notes they describe how some of the CPA's senior staff, including Bremer himself, just would not make themselves available to meet with the auditors. Others, like George Wolfe, the CPA's de facto treasurer, showed a total lack of cooperation.

As head of the CPA, Bremer bears the overall responsibility for the CPA's hiring policies that led to his staff being dangerously inexperienced and unable to provide the oversight necessary to protect the funds they were administering.^{[improper synthesis?]}

This issue also became a topic of discussion during some of Bremer's Q&A sessions with students who attended Bremer's presentations during Bremer's campus speaking tours. Some questioned Bremer if he could have done things differently in Iraq, but were notably disappointed when he avoided the question. Bremer allegedly responded to one such question with, “I will tell you what I told them, I'm saving that for my book... I need more time to reflect.”

In February 2007, Bremer defended the way he spent billions of dollars in Iraqi funds after the U.S. invasion. In a prepared testimony he said that he did the best he could to kickstart the Iraqi economy, "which was flat on its back."^[44]

Progress of reconstruction[link]

One of the CPA's most important tasks was the reconstruction of Iraq's infrastructure. Compared to the rapid repair of Iraq's oil infrastructure — with the notable exception of the meters — the progress of reconstruction on Iraq's potable water, sewage and electricity systems was extremely slow. Defenders^{[clarification needed]} argued that this was due to the unanticipated volume and fierceness of those resisting the Coalition's occupation. Critics^{[clarification needed]} blame the CPA's preference for contracts with connected US firms; only 2% of the reconstruction contracts in 2003 were awarded to Iraqi firms.^{[citation needed]}

Shutting down the newspaper Al-Hawza[link]

On March 28, 2004 Bremer ordered the 759th Military Police Battalion to shut down controversial Iraqi newspaper al-Hawza for two months.^[45] This move was widely criticized as running directly counter to the Bush administration's announced goal of helping transform Iraq into a modern, democratic state. This move was even criticized by members of Bremer's own appointees on the Iraqi Governing Council.

Al-Hawza started after the removal of Saddam Hussein and was considered a mouthpiece for Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.^[46] It was shut down by the United States-led administration headed by Bremer on March 28, 2004, after being accused of encouraging violence against Coalition troops. There was discussion with Sir Jeremy Greenstock (UK's Special Representative for Iraq), about preparations to arrest al-Sadr, who by early March 2004 had increased his militia following, the Mahdi army, from about 200 followers to some 6,000, in seven months. Bremer wrote in his book that "Greenstock said that this would be a difficult time to go after him ... I first urged [his] arrest last August...".^[47]

Iyad Allawi, leader of the interim government, explicitly gave al-Hawza permission to re-open on July 18, 2004.

Granting foreign contractors immunity from Iraqi law[link]

Two days before he left Iraq, Bremer signed "Order 17"^[48] giving all staff associated with the CPA and the American government immunity from Iraqi law. One of his former top aides is quoted as saying, “we wanted to make sure our military, civilians and contractors were protected from Iraqi law.”^[49] This stipulation was later incorporated into Iraqi law.^[50]

Since then, violent events in Iraq involving American security companies such as Blackwater have resulted in great resentment among Iraqis, who view them as private armies acting with impunity on their soil.^{[51][52][53][54]}

Early departure[link]

Bremer's early departure was sprung on the world press as a complete surprise. But the turnover of political power a couple of days earlier was suggested by members of the Bush administration to thwart any plans the insurgency may have had for June 30.

U.S. intelligence sources had monitored chatter that suggested resistance elements were planning demonstrations, or outright attacks, to coincide with the time of the official handover. An early handover would preempt the plans of resistance elements.^[55]

Others read al-Hayat's version published one day after Bremer's departure. The Arabic language newspaper released a story about Bremer's alleged romantic ties with an Iraqi translator, who continued to work for Bremer despite their apparent conflict of interests. The Arabic language newspaper further details the affair stating that the Iraqi woman and her family left for Jordan three days prior to the handover to wait for their anticipated departure for the United States. The paper can be quoted as saying that close acquaintances of the "young Iraqi lover" knew about the affair with the top American official (presumably Bremer) and knew something about future marriage plans. The subject of Bremer taking Iraqi women as "wives" has come up before during his stay in Iraq. Bremer responded to a reporter's question about the rumor of marrying Iraqi women, "I have the maximum number of wives permitted by my religion".

His early departure was disruptive to the smooth transition of authority, as the KPMG audit of the Development Fund for Iraq made clear. In their management notes the external auditors describe trying to meet with Bremer, and being very surprised by his early departure.

Many of Bremer's senior staff left when he did, meaning that important documents, required for the completion of the audit, could not be signed by the appropriate staff members.

There are others, however, who feel that Bremer should have been relieved far earlier. "Bremer is the largest single disaster in American foreign policy in modern times," said former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. "Bremer, no later than September [2003], should have been relieved.^[56]

Life after public service[link]

After his departure from the US government, Bremer, moved to Chester, Vermont and became an artist, crafting oil paintings of New England country landscapes. He also as of 2009 reportedly did consulting work and served on a number of boards in the Washington area.^[57] He remained a media presence with interviews and the release of his memoirs, and criticized the Obama administration for not devoting more effort to promoting democracy overseas.^[58] He is also a consistent advocate for a continued US presence in Iraq.^[59]

While many other conservatives began advocating for a withdrawal from Afghanistan, Bremer endorsed the Obama administration's new strategy in 2010, describing it as "reasonable" and stating: "The President deserves credit for deciding to replicate President Bush’s Iraq strategy by sending more troops to the fight in Afghanistan." Following his return to private life, he also endorsed Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations" thesis. He stated: "It is a fact of history that Europe is based on Judeo-Christian values. But Europe seems unwilling, or perhaps afraid, to acknowledge this reality."^[60]

Quotations[link]

• "The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism. What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, `Oh, my God, shouldn't we be organized to deal with this?'" (February 26, 2001, speaking at a McCormick Tribune Foundation conference on terrorism)
• "...there are reasons why some people turn to terrorism. There are political reasons, there are economic reasons. Some people are simply criminals...."^[61]
• "Ladies and gentlemen... we got him!" (December 14, 2003, announcing the capture of Saddam Hussein)
• "If you don’t know what you stand for, you cannot easily figure out how to defend it." (Interview, Bellum: A Project of The Stanford Review, March 18, 2010)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• L. Paul Bremer & Malcolm McConnell: My Year In Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope, 1st edn. (Canada: Simon & Schuster, January 2006). ISBN 0-7432-7389-3 and ISBN 978-0-7432-7389-3.

External links[link]

• "Baghdad year zero: Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia", Naomi Klein, September 2004
• Paul Bremer profile, NNDB
• Paul Bremer timeline at the History Commons
• CPA Bios
• Bremer's Tale: The Top American in Iraq, NPR Fresh Air from WHYY (Audio), January 10, 2006
• CPA Reunion Party January 14, 2006
• "Frontline: the lost year in iraq |PBS" 2006
• What has happened to Iraq's missing $1bn?, The Independent, September 19, 2005
• My sadness at the privatisation of Iraq, Times Online, August 12, 2005
• Former Bush aide turns critic as Iraq inspector, Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2005—Contains another perspective on the conflict between Bremer and Inspector General Bowen
• Iraq reconstruction riddled with waste, audits find The Seattle Times, July 4, 2005
• Ave Maria University Commencement Address, June 19, 2005
• Bremer Speaks at Clark University Worcester IMC April 19, 2005
• Bremer, students spar The Bowdoin Orient, April 15, 2005
• Bremer explains, defends Iraq war Brunswick Times Record, April 11, 2005
• Oversight of Funds Provided to the Iraqi Ministries through the National Budget Process report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction that documents the unaccounted for $9 billion
• TD Waterhouse Keynote Address @ IA Conference American Rhetoric February 4, 2005
• Transcript: Paul Bremer, Former U.S. Administrator in Iraq Fox News July 6, 2004
• Paul Bremer's Rough Ride TIMES Archive June 28, 2004
• Bremer Answers QuestionsUSAToday June 17, 2004
• In Iraq, the Job Opportunity of a Lifetime Washington Post, May 22, 2004 (about young volunteers hired by the Pentagon to handle financial tasks in Iraq)
• Racing the Clock in IraqNewsweek February 9, 2004
• Letter From Baghdad, War After the War The New Yorker November 2003
• "Online NewsHour" Interview September 24, 2003
• Frontline Interview with L. Paul Bremer August 1, 2003
• Faith Gives Him Strength, June 19, 2003
• How Should America Address Terrorist Aggression, CNN television interview September 14, 2001
• Countering the Changing Threat of International Terrorism A Presentation by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer The Nixon Center July 19, 2000
• Global Threat, pbs interview of L. Paul Bremer, III and former CIA official Larry Johnson, June 6, 2000
• Terrorism: its evolving nature - by L. Paul Bremer, III US Dept. of State Bulletin May 1989

Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck at the White House for the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors
Background information
Birth name	David Warren Brubeck
Born	(1920-12-06) December 6, 1920 (age 91) Concord, California United States
Genres	Jazz Cool jazz West Coast jazz Third stream
Occupations	Pianist Composer Bandleader
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1940s–present
Associated acts	Dave Brubeck Quartet

David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (born December 6, 1920) is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.

His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the Dave Brubeck Quartet's best remembered piece, "Take Five",^[1] which is in 5/4 time and has endured as a jazz classic on the top-selling jazz album, Time Out.^[2] Brubeck experimented with time signatures throughout his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, and "Blue Rondo à la Turk" in 9/8. He is also a respected composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television such as Mr. Broadway and the animated mini-series This Is America, Charlie Brown.

Early life and career[link]

Brubeck was born in Concord, California^[1] and grew up in Ione. He is of English (maternal), Swiss and possibly Native American Modoc Tribe ^[3] multi-ethnic (paternal) ancestry^[4] His father, Howard "Pete" Brubeck, was a cattle rancher, and his mother, Elizabeth (née Ivey), who had studied piano in England under Myra Hess and intended to become a concert pianist, taught piano for extra money.^[5] Brubeck originally did not intend to become a musician (his two older brothers, Henry and Howard, were already on that track), but took lessons from his mother. He could not read sheet music during these early lessons, attributing this difficulty to poor eyesight, but "faked" his way through, well enough that this deficiency went mostly unnoticed.^[6]

Intending to work with his father on their ranch, Brubeck entered the College of the Pacific (now the University of the Pacific) studying veterinary science, but transferred on the urging of the head of zoology, Dr. Arnold, who told him "Brubeck, your mind's not here. It's across the lawn in the conservatory. Please go there. Stop wasting my time and yours".^[7] Later, Brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he could not read music. Several of his professors came forward, arguing that his ability with counterpoint and harmony more than compensated. The college was still afraid that it would cause a scandal, and agreed to let Brubeck graduate only after he promised never to teach piano.^[8]

After graduating in 1942, Brubeck was drafted into the army and served overseas in George Patton's Third Army. He was spared from service in the Battle of the Bulge when he volunteered to play piano at a Red Cross show; he was such a hit he was ordered to form a band. Thus he created one of the US armed forces' first racially integrated bands, "The Wolfpack".^[8] While serving in the military, Brubeck met Paul Desmond in early 1944.^[9] He returned to college after serving nearly four years in the army, this time attending Mills College and studying under Darius Milhaud, who encouraged him to study fugue and orchestration, but not classical piano. While on active duty, he received two lessons from Arnold Schoenberg at UCLA in an attempt to connect with High Modernism theory and practice.^[10] However, the encounter did not end on good terms since Schoenberg believed that every note should be accounted for, an approach which Brubeck could not accept.

After completing his studies under Milhaud, Brubeck helped to establish Berkeley, California's Fantasy Records. He worked with an octet (the recording bears his name only because Brubeck was the best-known member at the time), and a trio including Cal Tjader and Ron Crotty. Highly experimental, the group made few recordings and got even fewer paying jobs. The trio was often joined by Paul Desmond on the bandstand, at Desmond's prodding.^[11]

Quartet era[link]

Following a near-fatal swimming accident which incapacitated him for several months, Brubeck organized The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951, with Desmond on saxophone. They took up a long residency at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub and gained great popularity touring college campuses, recording a series of albums with such titles as Jazz at Oberlin (1953), Jazz at College of the Pacific (1953), and Brubeck's debut on Columbia Records, Jazz Goes to College (1954). In that same year, he was featured on the cover of Time magazine, the second jazz musician to be so honored (the first was Louis Armstrong on February 21, 1949^[13]). Brubeck personally found this accolade embarrassing since he considered Duke Ellington more deserving of it and was convinced that himself being Caucasian as opposed to Ellington being African American was a factor for why he was favored.^[14]

Early bassists for the group included Ron Crotty, Bob Bates, and Bob's brother Norman Bates; Lloyd Davis and Joe Dodge held the drum chair. In 1956, Brubeck hired Joe Morello, who had been working with Marian McPartland; Morello's presence made possible the rhythmic experiments that were to come. In 1958 Eugene Wright joined for the group's US State Department tour of Europe and Asia. Wright became a permanent member in 1959, making the "classic" Quartet's personnel complete. Wright, however, is African-American. During the late 1950s and early 1960s Brubeck canceled several concerts because the club owners or hall managers continued to resisted the idea of an integrated band on their stages. He also canceled a television appearance when he found out that the producers intended to keep Wright off-camera.{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded Time Out, an album their label was enthusiastic about but nonetheless hesitant to release. Featuring the album art of S. Neil Fujita, the album contained all original compositions, almost none of which were in common time: 9/8, 5/4, 3/4, and 6/4 were used inspired by Eurasian folk music they experienced during that US State Department sponsored tour.^[15] Nonetheless, on the strength of these unusual time signatures (the album included "Take Five", "Blue Rondo à la Turk", and "Three To Get Ready"), it quickly went platinum.

Dave Brubeck Quartet 1967. From left to right: Joe Morello, Eugene Wright, Brubeck and Paul Desmond.

Time Out was followed by several albums with a similar approach, including Time Further Out: Miro Reflections (1961), using more 5/4, 6/4, and 9/8, plus the first attempt at 7/4; Countdown: Time in Outer Space (dedicated to John Glenn) (1962), featuring 11/4 and more 7/4; and Time Changes (1963), with much 3/4, 10/4 (which was really 5+5), and 13/4. These albums were also known for using contemporary paintings as cover art, featuring the work of Joan Miró on Time Further Out, Franz Kline on Time in Outer Space, and Sam Francis on Time Changes.

A high point for the group was their 1963 live album At Carnegie Hall, described by critic Richard Palmer as "arguably Dave Brubeck's greatest concert".

In the early 1960s, Brubeck and his wife Iola developed a jazz musical, The Real Ambassadors, based in part on experiences they and their colleagues had during foreign tours on behalf of the US State Department. The soundtrack album, which featured Louis Armstrong, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and Carmen McRae was recorded in 1961; the musical itself was performed at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival.

At their peak in the early '60s, the Brubeck Quartet was releasing as many as four albums a year. Apart from the 'College' and the 'Time' series, Brubeck recorded four LPs featuring his compositions based on the group's travels, and the local music they encountered. Jazz Impressions of the USA (1956, Morello's debut with the group), Jazz Impressions of Eurasia (1958), Jazz Impressions of Japan (1964), and Jazz Impressions of New York (1964) are less well-known albums, but all are brilliant examples of the quartet's studio work, and they produced Brubeck standards such as "Summer Song," "Brandenburg Gate," "Koto Song," and "Theme From Mr. Broadway." (Brubeck wrote, and the Quartet performed, the theme song for the Craig Stevens CBS drama series; the music from the series became material for the "New York" album.)

In 1961 Dave Brubeck appeared in a few scenes of the British Jazz/Beat film All Night Long, which starred Patrick McGoohan and Richard Attenborough. Brubeck merely plays himself, and his piano playing includes closeups of his fingerings. Brubeck performs "It's a Raggy Waltz" from the Time Further Out album and duets briefly with bassist Charles Mingus in "Non-Sectarian Blues".

In the early 1960s Dave Brubeck was the program director of WJZZ-FM radio (now WEZN). He achieved his vision of an all jazz format radio station along with his friend and neighbor John E. Metts, one of the first African Americans in senior radio management.

The final studio album for Columbia by the Desmond/Wright/Morello quartet was Anything Goes (1966) featuring Cole Porter songs. A few concert recordings followed, and The Last Time We Saw Paris (1967) was the "Classic" Quartet's swansong.

Later career[link]

Brubeck in a 1972 performance in Hamburg

Brubeck's disbanding of the Quartet at the end of 1967 allowed him more time to compose the longer, extended orchestral and choral works that were occupying his attention (to say nothing of Brubeck's desire to spend more time with his family). February 1968 saw the premiere of The Light in the Wilderness for baritone solo, choir, organ, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel, and Brubeck improvising on certain themes within. The piece is an oratorio on Jesus's teachings. The next year, Brubeck produced The Gates of Justice, a cantata mixing Biblical scripture with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Personal life[link]

Four of Brubeck's six children are professional musicians. Darius, the eldest, is an accomplished pianist, producer, educator and performer. (He was named after Dave Brubeck's mentor Darius Milhaud.^[16]) Dan is a renowned percussionist, Chris is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Matthew, the youngest, is a versatile cellist with an impressive list of composing and performance credits. Brubeck's children often join with him in concerts and in the recording studio.

Brubeck in 2005

Brubeck believed what he saw during World War II contradicted the Ten Commandments, and the war evoked a spiritual awakening.^{[citation needed]} He became a Catholic in 1980, shortly after completing the Mass To Hope which had been commissioned by Ed Murray, editor of the national Catholic weekly Our Sunday Visitor. Although he had spiritual interests before that time, he said, "I didn't convert to Catholicism, because I wasn't anything to convert from. I just joined the Catholic Church."^[17] In 1996, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, Brubeck was awarded the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious^[18] honor given to American Catholics, during the University's commencement. He performed "Travellin' Blues" for the graduating class of 2006.

Brubeck founded the Brubeck Institute with his wife Iola at their alma mater, the University of the Pacific in 2000. What began as a special archive, consisting of the personal document collection of the Brubecks has since expanded to provide fellowships and educational opportunities in jazz for students, also leading to having one of the main streets the school resides on named in his honor, Dave Brubeck Way.^[19]

Recognition[link]

Dave Brubeck (third from left), amongst Kennedy Center honorees 2009, flanked by President and Mrs. Obama at the Blue Room, White House, December 6, 2009.

On April 8, 2008, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented Brubeck with a "Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy" for offering an American "vision of hope, opportunity and freedom" through his music.^[20] "As a little girl I grew up on the sounds of Dave Brubeck because my dad was your biggest fan," said Rice.^[21] The State Department said in a statement that "as a pianist, composer, cultural emissary and educator, Dave Brubeck's life's work exemplifies the best of America's cultural diplomacy."^[20] At the ceremony Brubeck played a brief recital for the audience at the State Department.^[20] "I want to thank all of you because this honor is something that I never expected. Now I am going to play a cold piano with cold hands," Brubeck stated.^[20]

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced on May 28, 2008 that Brubeck would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The induction ceremony occurred December 10, and he was inducted alongside eleven other legendary Californians.^[22]

In September 2009, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Brubeck as a Kennedy Center Honoree for exhibiting excellence in performance arts.^[23] The Kennedy Center Honors Gala took place on Sunday, December 6 (Brubeck's 89th birthday) and was broadcast nationwide on CBS on December 29 at 9:00 pm EST.

On September 20, 2009, at Monterey Jazz Festival, Brubeck was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (D.Mus. honoris causa) from Berklee College of Music.^[24]

On May 16, 2010, Brubeck was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. The ceremony took place on the National Mall.^{[citation needed]}

On July 5, 2010, Brubeck was awarded the Miles-Davis Award at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.^{[citation needed]}In 2010, Bruce Ricker and Clint Eastwood produced a documentary Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way about Brubeck for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to commemorate his 90th birthday in December 2010.^[25]

Brubeck has become a supporter of the Jazz Foundation of America in their mission to save the homes and the lives of elderly jazz and blues musicians, including musicians that survived Hurricane Katrina.^[26] Brubeck supported the Jazz Foundation by performing in their annual benefit concert "A Great Night in Harlem" in 2006.^[27]

Awards[link]

• Connecticut Arts Award (1987)
• National Medal of Arts, National Endowment for the Arts (1994)
• DownBeat Hall of Fame (1994)
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1996)
• Doctorate honoris causa University of Fribourg, Switzerland (2004)
• Laetare Medal (University of Notre Dame) (2006)
• BBC Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award (2007)
• Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy (2008)^[20]
• Inducted into California Hall of Fame (2008)
• Kennedy Centre Honour (2009)^[28]
• George Washington University Honorary Degree (2010)^[29]
• Honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey (2011)

Discography[link]

• Brubeck Trio with Cal Tjader, Volume 1 (1949)
• Brubeck Trio with Cal Tjader, Volume 2 (1949)
• Brubeck/Desmond (1951)
• Stardust (1951)
• Dave Brubeck Quartet (1951)
• Jazz at the Blackhawk (1952)
• Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond (1952)
• Jazz at Storyville (live) (1952)
• featuring Paul Desmond In Concert (live) (1953)
• Two Knights at the Black Hawk (1953)
• Jazz at Oberlin (1953) Fantasy Records
• Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond at Wilshire Ebell (1953)
• Jazz at the College of the Pacific (1953) Fantasy Records
• Jazz Goes to College (1954) Columbia Records
• Dave Brubeck at Storyville 1954 (live) (1954)
• Brubeck Time (1955)
• Jazz: Red Hot And Cool (1955)
• Brubeck Plays Brubeck (1956)
• Dave Brubeck and Jay & Kai at Newport (1956)
• Jazz Impressions of the U.S.A. (1956)
• Plays and Plays and... (1957) Fantasy Records
• Reunion (1957) Fantasy Records
• Jazz Goes to Junior College (live) (1957)
• Dave Digs Disney (1957)
• In Europe (1958)
• Complete 1958 Berlin Concert (released 2008)
• Newport 1958
• Jazz Impressions of Eurasia (1958)
• Gone with the Wind (1959) Columbia Records
• Time Out (1959) Columbia Records/Legacy (RIAA: Platinum)
• Southern Scene (1960)
• The Riddle (1960)
• Brubeck and Rushing (1960)
• Brubeck a la Mode (1961) Fantasy Records
• Tonight Only with the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1961, with Carmen McRae)
• Take Five Live (1961, Live, Columbia Records, with Carmen McRae, released 1965)
• Near-Myth (1961) Fantasy Records
• Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein (1961)
• Time Further Out (1961) Columbia Records/Legacy
• Countdown—Time in Outer Space (1962) Columbia Records
• The Real Ambassadors (1962)
• Music From West Side Story (1962)
• Bossa Nova U.S.A. (1962)
• Brubeck in Amsterdam (1962, released 1969)
• Brandenburg Gate: Revisited (1963) Columbia Records
• At Carnegie Hall (1963)
• Time Changes (album) (1963)
• Dave Brubeck in Berlin (1964)
• Jazz Impressions of Japan (1964) Columbia Records/Legacy
• Jazz Impressions of New York (1964) Columbia Records/Legacy
• Angel Eyes (1965)
• My Favorite Things (1965)
• The 1965 Canadian Concert (released 2008)
• Time In (1966) Columbia Records
• Anything Goes (1966)
• Bravo! Brubeck! (1967)
• Buried Treasures (1967, released 1998)
• Jackpot (1967) Columbia Records
• The Last Time We Saw Paris (1968)
• Adventures in Time (Compilation, 1972) Columbia Records
• The Light in the Wilderness (1968)
• Compadres (1968)
• Blues Roots (1968)
• Brubeck/Mulligan/Cincinnati (1970)
• Live at the Berlin Philharmonie (1970)
• The Last Set at Newport (1971) Atlantic Records
• Truth is Fallen (1972)
• We're All Together Again For the First Time (1973)
• Two Generations of Brubeck (1973)
• Brother, the Great Spirit Made Us All (1974)
• All The Things We Are (1974)
• Brubeck & Desmond 1975: The Duets
• DBQ 25th Anniversary Reunion (1976) A&M Records
• The New Brubeck Quartet Live at Montreux (1978)
• A Cut Above (1978)
• La Fiesta de la Posada (1979)
• Back Home (1979) Concord Records
• A Place in Time (1980)
• Tritonis (1980) Concord Records
• To Hope! A Celebration By Dave Brubeck (A Mass in the Revised Roman Ritual) - Original now out-of-print 1980 recording conducted by Erich Kunzel. Pastoral Arts Associates (PAA) of North America, Old Hickory, Nashville, Tennesses 37187 LP record number DRP-8318. Music Copyright 1979 St. Francis Music. Recording Copyright 1980 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
• Paper Moon (1982) Concord Records
• Concord on a Summer Night (1982)
• For Iola (1984)
• Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with guest Dave Brubeck (1984, released 1993)
• Reflections (1985)
• Blue Rondo (1986)
• Moscow Night (1987)
• New Wine (1987, released 1990)
• The Great Concerts (Compilation, 1988)
• Quiet As The Moon (Charlie Brown soundtrack) (1991)
• Once When I Was Very Young (1991)
• Time Signatures: A Career Retrospective (Compilation, 1992) Sony Colombia Legacy
• Trio Brubeck (1993)
• Late Night Brubeck (1994)
• Just You, Just Me (solo) (1994)
• Nightshift (1995)
• Young Lions & Old Tigers (1995)
• To Hope! A Celebration (1996)
• A Dave Brubeck Christmas (1996)
• In Their Own Sweet Way (1997)
• So What's New? (1998)
• The 40th Anniversary Tour of the U.K. (1999)
• One Alone (2000)
• Double Live From the USA & UK (2001)
• The Crossing (2001)
• Vocal Encounters (Compilation, 2001) Sony Records
• Classical Brubeck (with the London Symphony Orchestra, 2003) Telarc
• Park Avenue South (2003)
• The Gates of Justice (2004)
• Private Brubeck Remembers (solo piano + Interview disc w. Walter Cronkite) (2004)
• London Flat, London Sharp (2005) Telarc
• Indian Summer (2007) Telarc
• Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958–2007 (2008)
• Yo-Yo Ma & Friends Brubeck tracks: Joy to the World, Concordia. (2008)Sony BMG
• Everybody Wants To Be A Cat: Disney Jazz Volume 1 Brubeck tracks: Some Day My Prince Will Come, Alice In Wonderland (with Roberta Gambarini) (2011)
• Their Last Time Out (DBQ recorded Live, 12/26/67) (2011)

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Isenberg, Barbara. State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work. 2005

Others[link]

• Photographs, documents, and video clips of oral history interviews from the Brubeck Collection are available at the University of the Pacific Library's Digital Collections.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dave Brubeck

• Official website