Secretary of Defense of the United States of America
Flag of the Secretary of Defense[1]
Seal of the Department of Defense Department of Defense Office of the Secretary of Defense
Incumbent Leon Panetta since July 1, 2011
Style	Mister Secretary
Formation	September 19, 1947
First holder	James Forrestal[2]
Succession	Sixth in the presidential line of succession.[3]
Deputy	The Deputy Secretary of Defense
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level 1[4]
Website	The Official Home of the Department of Defense

The Secretary of Defense (SecDef) is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense, an Executive Department of the Government of the United States of America.^[5][6][7] This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in many other countries.^[8] The Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.^[9]

Secretary of Defense is a statutory office, and the general provision in 10 U.S.C. § 113 provides that the Secretary of Defense has "authority, direction and control over the Department of Defense", and is further designated by the same statute as "the principal assistant to the President in all matters relating to the Department of Defense."^[10] Ensuring civilian control of the military, an individual may not be appointed as Secretary of Defense within seven years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular (i.e., non-reserve) component of an armed force.^[11]

The Secretary of Defense is in the chain of command and exercises command and control, subject only to the orders of the President, over all Department of Defense forces (the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps) for both operational and administrative purposes.^{[12][13][14][15]} Only the Secretary of Defense (or the President) can authorize the transfer of operational control of forces between the three Military Departments (Departments of the Army, Navy & Air Force) and the currently nine Combatant Commands (Africa Command, Central Command, European Command, Northern Command, Pacific Command, Southern Command, Special Operations Command, Strategic Command, Transportation Command), and between the Combatant Commands.^[16] Because the Office of Secretary of Defense is vested with legal powers which exceeds those of any commissioned officer, and is second only to the Office of President in the military hierarchy, it has sometimes unofficially been referred to as a de facto "deputy commander-in-chief".^[17][18][19] The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the Secretary of Defense and the President, and while the Chairman may assist the Secretary and President in their command functions, the Chairman is not in the chain of command.^[20]

The Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, are generally regarded as the four most important cabinet officials because of the importance of their departments.^[21] Secretary of Defense is a Level I position of the Executive Schedule and thus earns a salary of $199,700 per year. The current Secretary is Leon Panetta who assumed office July 1, 2011.

History[link]

Seal of the National Military Establishment (1947–1949), which was reorganized into the Department of Defense.

The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were established in 1775, in concurrence with the American Revolution. The War Department, headed by the Secretary of War, was created by Act of Congress in 1789 and was responsible for both the Army and Navy until the founding of a separate Department of the Navy in 1798.

Based on the experiences of World War II, proposals were soon made on how to more effectively manage the large combined military establishment over which only the President had direct line authority. The Army generally favored centralization while the Navy had institutional preferences for decentralization and the status quo. The resulting National Security Act of 1947 was largely a compromise between these divergent viewpoints. The Act split the War Department into the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force, each with their own Secretary, and created a sui generis National Military Establishment led by a Secretary of Defense. At first, each of the service secretaries maintained quasi-cabinet status. The first Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal, who in his previous capacity as Secretary of the Navy had opposed creation of the new position, found it difficult to exercise authority over them with the limited powers his office had at the time. To address this and other problems, the National Security Act was amended in 1949 to further consolidate the national defense structure in order to reduce interservice rivalry, directly subordinate the Secretaries of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force to the Secretary of Defense in the chain of command, and rename the National Military Establishment to the Department of Defense as one Executive Department. The position of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the number two position in the department, was also created at this time.

The general trend since 1949 has been to further centralize management in the Department of Defense, elevating the status and authorities of civilian OSD appointees and defense-wide organizations at the expense of the military departments and the services within them. The last major revision of the statutory framework concerning the position was done in the Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. In particular, it elevated the status of joint service for commissioned officers, making it in practice a requirement before appointments to general officer and flag officer grades could be made.

Powers and functions[link]

DoD organization chart (2005.)

Functional chart of the major DoD components, and their relations to the President and the NSC.

In the U.S. Armed Forces, the Secretary of Defense is often referred to as SecDef or SD. The Secretary of Defense and the President together constitute the National Command Authorities (NCA),^[22] which has sole authority to launch strategic nuclear weapons. All nuclear weapons are governed by this dual-authority – both must concur before a strategic nuclear strike may be ordered.

The Secretary's staff element is called the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and is composed of a Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF) and five Under Secretaries of Defense in the fields of Acquisition, Technology & Logistics; Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer; Intelligence; Personnel & Readiness; and Policy.

The Secretary of Defense by statute also exercises "authority, direction and control" over the three Secretaries of the military departments (Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of the Air Force), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Chief of Staff, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of Naval Operations, and Air Force Chief of Staff), the Combatant Commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands, the Directors of the Defense Agencies (for example the Director of the National Security Agency) and of the DoD Field Activities. All of these high-ranking positions require Senate confirmation.

The Secretary is one of few civilians^[23] who is authorized to act as convening authority in the military justice system for General Courts-Martial (10 U.S.C. § 822: article 22, UCMJ), Special Courts-Martial (10 U.S.C. § 823: article 23, UCMJ), and Summary Courts-Martial (10 U.S.C. § 824: article 24 UCMJ).

List of Secretaries of Defense[link]

The longest-serving Secretary of Defense is the late Robert McNamara, who served for a total of 2,595 days. Combining his two non-sequential services as Secretary of Defense, the second longest serving is Donald Rumsfeld, who served merely ten days less than McNamara.

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

Status

No.	Portrait	Name	State of Residence	Took Office	Left Office	Days served	President serving under
1		James Vincent Forrestal	New York	September 19, 1947	March 19, 1949	558		Harry S. Truman
2		Louis Arthur Johnson	West Virginia	March 28, 1949	September 19, 1950	540
3		George Catlett Marshall, Jr.	Virginia	September 19, 1950	September 19, 1951	365
4		Robert Abercrombie Lovett	New York	September 19, 1951	January 20, 1953	491
5		Charles Erwin Wilson	Indiana	January 20, 1953	October 8, 1957	1,722		Dwight D. Eisenhower
6		Neil Hosler McElroy	Ohio	October 9, 1957	December 1, 1959	783
7		Thomas Sovereign Gates, Jr.	Pennsylvania	December 2, 1959	January 20, 1961	415
8		Robert Strange McNamara	Michigan	January 21, 1961	February 29, 1968	2,595		John F. Kennedy
								Lyndon B. Johnson
9		Clark McAdams Clifford	Washington, D.C.	March 1, 1968	January 20, 1969	326
10		Melvin Robert Laird	Wisconsin	January 22, 1969	January 29, 1973	1,469		Richard Nixon
11		Elliot Lee Richardson	Massachusetts	January 30, 1973	May 24, 1973	114
–		William Perry Clements, Jr. (as Deputy Secretary)	Texas	May 24, 1973	July 2, 1973	39
12		James Rodney Schlesinger	Virginia	July 2, 1973	November 19, 1975	870
								Gerald Ford
13		Donald Rumsfeld	Illinois	November 20, 1975	January 20, 1977	427
14		Harold Brown	New York	January 21, 1977	January 20, 1981	1,460		Jimmy Carter
15		Caspar Willard Weinberger	California	January 21, 1981	November 23, 1987	2,497		Ronald Reagan
16		Frank Charles Carlucci III	Pennsylvania	November 23, 1987	January 20, 1989	424
–		William Howard Taft IV (as Deputy Secretary)	Ohio	January 20, 1989	March 20, 1989	59		George H. W. Bush
17		Richard Bruce Cheney	Wyoming	March 21, 1989	January 20, 1993	1,402
18		Leslie Aspin, Jr.	Wisconsin	January 21, 1993	February 3, 1994	378		Bill Clinton
19		William James Perry	Pennsylvania	February 3, 1994	January 24, 1997	1,085
20		William Sebastian Cohen	Maine	January 24, 1997	January 20, 2001	1,457
21		Donald Rumsfeld	Illinois	January 20, 2001	December 18, 2006	2,158		George W. Bush
22		Robert M. Gates	Texas	December 18, 2006	July 1, 2011[24]	1,643
								Barack Obama
23		Leon Panetta	California	July 1, 2011	Incumbent	&10000000000000362000000362

Succession[link]

Presidential succession[link]

The Secretary of Defense is sixth in the presidential line of succession, following the Secretary of the Treasury and preceding the Attorney General.^[25]

Secretary of Defense succession[link]

In Executive Order 13533 of March 1, 2010, President Barack Obama modified the line of succession regarding who would act as Secretary of Defense in the event of a vacancy or incapacitation, thus reversing the changes made by President George W. Bush in Executive Order 13394 as to the relative positions of the Secretaries of the Military Departments. All of the officials in the line of succession are civilians appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate:

Living former Secretaries of Defense[link]

• 10th: Melvin Robert Laird
• 12th: James Rodney Schlesinger
• 13th and 21st: Donald Henry Rumsfeld
• 14th: Harold Brown
• 16th: Frank Charles Carlucci III
• 17th: Richard Bruce Cheney
• 19th: William James Perry
• 20th: William Sebastian Cohen
• 22nd: Robert Michael Gates

See also[link]

• List of United States Secretaries of Defense by time in office

Notes[link]

References[link]

Federal law[link]

• Title 10 of the United States Code
• Title 50 of the United States Code

Directives and doctrine[link]

• Gates, Robert M. (2010-12-21). Department of Defense Directive 5100.1: Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components. Department of Defense Directive. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Defense. http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/510001p.pdf. 
• Mullen, Michael G. (2009-03-20). Joint Publication 1 – Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States. Joint Publications. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Defense. http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp1.pdf. 

Print sources[link]

• Trask, Roger R.; Goldberg, Alfred (1997). The Department of Defense 1997-1947: Organization and Leaders. Washington, D.C.: Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense/U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 0-16-049163-0. http://osdhistory.defense.gov/docs/DOD%201947-1997%20Organization%20and%20Leaders.pdf. 

Online sources[link]

• "Histories of the Secretaries of Defense". U.S. Department of Defense. http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/secdef_histories/. Retrieved September 3, 2002. 
• "The Department of Defense Organizational Structure". U.S. Department of Defense. http://www.dod.mil/odam/omp/pubs/GuideBook/DoD.htm#Secretary%20of%20Defense. Retrieved November 13, 2006. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United States Secretary of Defense

• The Reinvention of Robert Gates by Michael Crowley, The New Republic, November 9, 2009
• "Top Civilian and Military Leaders". U.S. Department of Defense. http://www.defenselink.mil/osd/topleaders.aspx. Retrieved October 13, 2007. ^{[dead link]} – Includes the Secretary of Defense
• More information on each position and biographies of the current Deputy Secretary (DepSecDef) and Under Secretaries (USDs)

v t e Secretaries of Defense of the United States of America Forrestal Johnson Marshall Lovett Wilson McElroy T. Gates McNamara Clifford Laird Richardson Schlesinger Rumsfeld Brown Weinberger Carlucci Cheney Aspin Perry Cohen Rumsfeld Gates Panetta

v t e Senior Officials in the United States Department of Defense Secretary of Defense: Leon Panetta Deputy Secretary of Defense: Dr. Ashton Carter Secretaries of the Military Departments: Secretary of the Army: John McHugh • Secretary of the Navy: Ray Mabus • Secretary of the Air Force: Michael Donley Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: General Martin Dempsey, USA Under Secretaries of Defense for: Acquisition, Technology and Logistics: Frank Kendall III (Acting) • Policy: Dr. James N. Miller • Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer: Robert Hale • Personnel and Readiness: Jo Ann Rooney (Acting) • Intelligence: Michael Vickers Deputy Chief Management Officer: Elizabeth McGrath Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Admiral James Winnefeld, USN Chiefs of the Military Services: Chief of Staff of the Army: Raymond Odierno • Commandant of the Marine Corps: James Amos • Chief of Naval Operations: Jonathan Greenert Chief of Staff of the Air Force: Norton Schwartz • Chief of the National Guard Bureau: Craig McKinley

v t e The Department of Defense Headquarters: The Pentagon Secretary of Defense   OSD Deputy Secretary of Defense Deputy's Advisory Working Group Office of Net Assessment Special Access Program Oversight Committee Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Director, Defense Research and Engineering Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Missile Defense Agency Defense Contract Management Agency Defense Logistics Agency Defense Technical Information Center Defense Threat Reduction Agency Office of Economic Adjustment Defense Acquisition University Defense Acquisition Board Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Defense Security Cooperation Agency Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Defense Contract Audit Agency Defense Finance and Accounting Service Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Defense Commissary Agency Department of Defense Education Activity DoD Human Resources Activity Military Health System Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Security Service Defense Information Systems Agency National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency National Reconnaissance Office National Security Agency Director of Administration and Management Pentagon Force Protection Agency Washington Headquarters Services   Military departments Department of the Army Secretary of the Army The Secretariat: Under Secretary of the Army Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Assistant Secretary (Financial Management and Comptroller) Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs General Counsel of the Army The Administrative Assistant The Army Staff: Chief of Staff of the Army Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Sergeant Major of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-8 Chief of Chaplains Judge Advocate General Provost Marshal General Surgeon General U.S. Army Field Organizations: See Structure of the United States Army Department of the Navy Secretary of the Navy The Secretariat: Under Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Environment) Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions) General Counsel of the Navy Judge Advocate General Naval Criminal Investigative Service Naval Inspector General Office of the Chief of Naval Operations: Chief of Naval Operations Vice Chief of Naval Operations Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Director of Naval Reactors Chief of Chaplains Chief of Naval Personnel Surgeon General Headquarters Marine Corps: Commandant of the Marine Corps Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Chaplain U.S. Marine Corps Field Organizations: See Organization of the United States Marine Corps U.S. Navy Field Organizations: See Structure of the United States Navy Department of the Air Force Secretary of the Air Force The Secretariat: Under Secretary of the Air Force Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition) Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller) Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations, Environment & Logistics) Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) General Counsel of the Air Force Air Force Office of Special Investigations The Air Staff: Chief of Staff of the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Chief of Chaplains Chief of Safety Chief Scientist Surgeon General U.S. Air Force Field Organizations: Major Commands Direct Reporting Units Field Operating Agencies   Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Joint Requirements Oversight Council Director of the Joint Staff Joint Staff National Military Command Center Alternate National Military Command Center National Defense University   Combatant Commands Africa Command Central Command European Command Northern Command Pacific Command Southern Command Special Operations Command (Joint Special Operations Command) Strategic Command (Cyber Command) Transportation Command   National Guard Bureau Chief of the National Guard Bureau Air National Guard Army National Guard   Office of the Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service

Chuck Hagel
Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board
Incumbent
Assumed office October 28, 2009[1] Serving with David L. Boren
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Stephen Friedman
United States Senator from Nebraska
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	J. James Exon
Succeeded by	Mike Johanns
Deputy Administrator of Veteran Affairs
In office 1981–1982
President	Ronald Reagan
Personal details
Born	(1946-10-04) October 4, 1946 (age 65) North Platte, Nebraska
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Lilibet Hagel
Children	Allyn Hagel Ziller Hagel
Residence	Omaha, Nebraska
Alma mater	University of Nebraska at Omaha
Occupation	Electronics executive
Religion	Episcopalian[2]
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1967–1968
Rank	sergeant
Unit	2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Purple Heart Army Commendation Medal Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry Combat Infantry Badge

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal

Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel (born October 4, 1946) is a former United States Senator from Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002. In 2009, he was elected as Chairman of the Atlantic Council.

Early life and family[link]

Born in North Platte, Nebraska, to Betty Dunn Hagel and Charles Dean Hagel, who had German and Polish ancestry,^[3] he graduated from St. Bonaventure High School (now Scotus Central Catholic High School) in Columbus, Nebraska, the Brown Institute for Radio and Television in 1966 and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1971. Hagel is a Vietnam War veteran, having served in the United States Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant (E-5) from 1967 – 1968. He served as an infantry squad leader in the 9th Infantry Division.^[4][5] While serving during the Vietnam War, Hagel received the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.^{[citation needed]} After returning from Vietnam, he worked as a bartender and radio newscaster while finishing college.

Hagel married Lilibet Ziller in April 1985. The couple live with their daughter, Allyn, and son, Ziller, in McLean, Virginia.^[6] The family has one dog, Figgie, a Portuguese water dog who was trained by Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz, the same dog trainer who trained the Obama Family's dog, Bo, as well as Ted Kennedy's dogs.^[7]

Hagel has two brothers: Thomas, also a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran, is a professor at the University of Dayton School of Law,^[8] and Mike, an accomplished and well known artist who currently resides in Omaha, Nebraska.^[9] Hagel's third brother, Jim, died in a tragic car accident at the age of 16.^[10]

Hagel has been an avid Nebraska Cornhuskers football fan since he was a young boy growing up in Nebraska. He and his son, Ziller, presented the coin for the coin toss at the 2005 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, in which Nebraska was victorious over the Michigan Wolverines.

Career in Washington[link]

In 1971, Hagel was hired as a staffer for Congressman John Y. McCollister (R-NE), serving until 1977. For the next four years, he worked as a lobbyist for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, and, in 1980, he served as an organizer for the successful presidential campaign of former California Governor Ronald Reagan.

After Reagan's inauguration as President, Hagel was named deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. In 1982, however, he resigned his post over a disagreement with V.A. Administrator Robert P. Nimmo, who was intent on cutting funding for V.A. programs, and who had referred to veterans groups as "greedy", and to Agent Orange as not much worse than a "little teenage acne".^[11]

Business career[link]

After leaving government employment, Hagel co-founded Vanguard Cellular, a mobile phone manufacturer that made him a multi-millionaire. While working with Vanguard, he served as president and chief executive officer of the United Service Organizations and the Private Sector Council, as deputy director and chief operating officer of the 1990 G7 Summit, and on the board of directors or advisory committee of the American Red Cross, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, Bread for the World, and the Ripon Society. He also served as Chairman of the Agent Orange Settlement Fund and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Although he was pressured by some to run for Governor of Virginia, where he had lived for 20 years, in 1992 Hagel moved back to Nebraska to become president of the McCarthy Group, an investment banking firm. He also served as a Chairman and was CEO of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), a voting machine manufacturer.

In 1992, as President of investment group McCarthy & Co., Hagel assumed ownership and became Chairman of American Information Services (AIS), later known as Election Systems & Software (ES&S), a manufacturer of computerized voting machines. On March 15, 1995, Hagel resigned from the board of AIS as he intended to run for office.^[12]

Election to the Senate[link]

In 1996, Hagel ran for the open US Senate seat created by the retirement of Democrat J. James Exon. Hagel's opponent was Ben Nelson, then the sitting Governor of Nebraska. Although many people^{[citation needed]} believed Hagel had no chance of winning, he won a "stunning upset" in the election, receiving 56% of the vote, winning virtually all demographic groups including many black precincts that had always voted Democratic in previous elections,^{[citation needed]} and becoming the first Republican in twenty-four years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska.

Six years later in 2002, Hagel overwhelmingly won re-election with over 83% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in any statewide race in Nebraska history.

Senate career[link]

Since his election to the Senate in 1996, Hagel served as deputy whip for the Republican Caucus. He was chair of both the Senate Global Climate Change Observer Group and the Senate Oversight Task Force. He served as co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He also served on the NATO Observer Group. Hagel was a member of four Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Hagel's name was widely rumoured to be one of those considered by George W. Bush as a potential running mate in the 2000 presidential election. During the Bush administration, Hagel maintained a "traditionally Republican" voting record, receiving "a lifetime rating of 84 percent from the American Conservative Union and consistent A and B grades from the National Taxpayers Union."^[13] Among his most notable votes, Hagel:

• Voted for the Iraq war
• Voted for the Patriot Act
• Voted for the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts
• Voted against No Child Left Behind
• Voted against Bush’s Medicare prescription drug bill
• Voted against McCain-Feingold^[13]

In August 2004, Hagel acknowledged that he was considering a presidential campaign in 2008.

Hagel appeared as himself on the HBO series K Street in 2003, on the episode entitled "Week Four".^{[citation needed]}

On immigration, Senator Hagel supports a "pathway to citizenship" and a "guest worker program" for undocumented immigrants.^{[citation needed]} On May 25, 2006 he voted for S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which passed the Senate before reaching a stalemate in the House in late 2006. On June 26, 2007, Hagel joined with Senator Ted Kennedy to support the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1639).

In July 2007, Hagel was one of three Republican Senators who supported the legislation proposed by Democrats to require a troop withdrawal from Iraq to begin within 120 days. "This thing is really coming undone quickly, and [Prime Minister] Maliki's government is weaker by the day. The police are corrupt, top to bottom. The oil problem is a huge problem. They still can't get anything through the parliament—no hydrocarbon law, no de-Baathification law, no provincial elections" (from Robert Novak's interview with Hagel, published in the Washington Post: "Hagel's Stand".)

During his first campaign, Hagel indicated that, were he to be elected, he would retire in 2008 after two terms in the Senate.^[14] Nebraska State Attorney General Jon Bruning announced plans to challenge him in the primaries in 2008 if he did not retire.^{[citation needed]} After considering running in the 2008 presidential election, Hagel announced in 2007 that he would retire from the Senate at the end of his present term and would not seek the presidency.^[15] He has joined the faculty of Georgetown University, where his daughter currently attends, starting in the fall of 2009, as a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance and will begin teaching in the fall of 2009, as reported in the Georgetown University student paper "The Hoya", and in the Washington Post ^[16]

Senator Hagel's differences with his party's platform on Iraq are reflected in a change to his voting record. As reported in:^[17] " ... [A]ccording to Congressional Quarterly, in 2006 he voted with the President ninety-six per cent of the time... Hagel's support for Bush's policies declined—in 2007, he voted with the President just seventy-two per cent of the time."

Hagel had a tradition of wearing costumes to work on Halloween, usually masquerading as colleagues or other notable political figures. He has arrived at work dressed as Joe Biden, John McCain, Colin Powell, and Pat Roberts in past years.^[18]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
  • Subcommittee on African Affairs
  • Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
  • Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
• Select Committee on Intelligence
• Committee on Rules and Administration

Criticism of the Bush Administration[link]

On August 18, 2005, Hagel compared the Iraq War to Vietnam and openly mocked Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes".^[19]

In November 2005, Hagel made a much-publicized statement: "To question your government is not unpatriotic — to not question your government is unpatriotic." (This was in reference to the lack of open debate in Congress regarding the Iraq War, and in defense of his assertion that the United States should withdraw its troops.)^{[citation needed]} In December 2005, in reference to Bush, the Republican Party, and the PATRIOT Act, Hagel made a much-publicized statement:

"I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president."^[20]

In January 2006, Hagel took issue with Karl Rove over controversial statements the White House advisor made concerning the mindset of Republicans and Democrats. Hagel said, "Well, I didn't like what Mr. Rove said, because it frames terrorism and the issue of terrorism and everything that goes with it, whether it's the renewal of the Patriot Act or the NSA wiretapping, in a political context." He also said that "dark clouds" are hanging over the Republican party, and "If you look at the environment and the atmospherics politically in this town, read any poll. The sixth year of a governing party usually ... is not good ... the country is tired, a lot of complications in these international issues, we're at war."^[21] Hagel further criticized the Bush administration, saying, "National security is more important than the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. And to use it to try to get someone elected will ultimately end up in defeat and disaster for that political party."^[21]

In July 2006, Hagel again took issue with the Bush administration, this time on its handling of the Israel-Lebanon issue saying "The sickening slaughter on both sides must end and it must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate cease-fire. This madness must stop."^[22] Following heavy Republican losses in the 2006 midterm election, Hagel penned an editorial in the Washington Post highly critical of military strategies both employed and proposed for Iraq. He unequivocally declared that "There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq," and called for a "phased troop withdrawal" — making Hagel one of the most prominent voices in his party to do so.^[23]

According to a SurveyUSA poll, Hagel has a 10% higher approval rating among Nebraska Democrats than Republicans.^[24][25] OnTheIssues.org rates Hagel as a "libertarian-leaning conservative".

In January 2007, Hagel openly criticized President Bush's plan to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq. He called it, "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it's carried out."^[26] Together with Democrats Joseph Biden and Carl Levin he proposed a non-binding resolution to the Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which rejected Bush's policy as "not in the national interest" in a 12-9 vote.^[27] However, in a Senate vote of 94-2 to revoke executive power to replace federal prosecutors without a preliminary hearing, Senator Hagel and Senator Kit Bond were the only opposition.^[28]

After an April 2007 visit to Iraq with Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Joe Sestak, Hagel expressed his belief that the occupation of Iraq should not continue indefinitely and defended Congressional actions to set a timeline for an end in occupation. In July 2007, Hagel expressed his intention to cooperate with Senate Democrats in voting for a bill that would set a timeline to get out of Iraq.^[29]

In November 2007, he rated the Bush administration "the lowest in capacity, in capability, in policy, in consensus—almost every area" of any presidency in the last forty years. He also revealed he was open to running as vice-president with the 2008 Democratic nominee.^[30] In the same month, he said, "I have to say this is one of the most arrogant, incompetent administrations I've ever seen or ever read about."^[30]

Despite his criticisms of the Bush administration, Hagel voted 78.1% of the time with the Republican party.^[31]

Decision not to seek re-election[link]

On September 10, 2007, Hagel announced that he would be retiring from the Senate at the end of his term in 2009.^[32] The announcement ended speculation regarding a possible bid for the presidency in 2008.

On its website The Times reported that the Senator was a possible candidate for the cabinet position of United States Secretary of Defense in the Barack Obama administration:

Obama is hoping to appoint cross-party figures to his cabinet such as Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator for Nebraska and an opponent of the Iraq war […] Senior advisers confirmed that Hagel, a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran and one of McCain’s closest friends in the Senate, was considered an ideal candidate for defense secretary.^[33]

Senator Obama was quoted in the same article, when asked about Hagel as a potential cabinet member: "Chuck Hagel is a great friend of mine and I respect him very much."^[33] Following Hagel's retirement from the Senate, in February 2009 he accepted a position as Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

In 2010, Hagel endorsed Democratic Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak in his run for the United States Senate.

Vice Presidential possibilities[link]

Hagel was rumored to be a possible Obama pick for the Vice Presidential candidacy in his 2008 presidential election ticket. On June 20, 2008, Hagel said he would consider running with Obama if offered the VP spot.^[34] He had also been mentioned as a potential United States Secretary of Defense to succeed incumbent Robert Gates in the Obama administration.^[35][36] and said that he would consider serving if asked.^[37] In August, Hagel indicated that he wouldn't endorse either candidate or get involved in their campaigns.^[38] However, his wife endorsed Obama. Obama later picked Joe Biden as his running mate. Robert Gates remained Secretary of Defense for the Obama administration until 2011, when he was succeeded by Leon Panetta, a Democrat.

America: Our Next Chapter[link]

In Senator Hagel's new book, America: Our Next Chapter, he suggests that the United States should adopt independent leadership and possibly another political party. He also believes that the Iraq War is one of the five biggest blunders in U.S. history. Hagel is critical of George W. Bush's foreign policy, calling it "reckless." He has been a major critic of the war since it started, and has stated that the United States should learn from its mistakes in the Vietnam War. He considers Bush's foreign policy a "ping pong game with American lives".

Electoral history[link]

Republican primary for U.S. Senate from Nebraska, 1996^[39]

• Chuck Hagel - 108,612 (62.11%)
• Don Stenberg - 65,753 (37.60%)
• Write-ins - 498 (0.29%)

Nebraska United States Senate election, 1996^[40]

• Chuck Hagel (R) - 379,933 (56.12%)
• Ben Nelson (D) - 281,904 (41.64%)
• John W. DeCamp (Libertarian) - 9,483 (1.40%)
• Bill Dunn (Natural Law) - 4,806 (0.71%)
• Write-ins - 832 (0.12%)

Republican primary for U.S. Senate from Nebraska, 2002^[41]

• Chuck Hagel (inc.) - 144,160 (100.00%) - unopposed

Nebraska United States Senate election, 2002^[42]

• Chuck Hagel (R) (inc.) - 397,438 (82.76%)
• Charlie Matulka (D) - 70,290 (14.64%)
• Jack Graziano (Libertarian) - 7,423 (1.55%)
• Phil Chase (Independent) - 5,066 (1.06%)

Awards and honors[link]

In 2001, Hagel was awarded the exclusive Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.^[43] Hagel is also Nebraska Admiral, an honorary title considering Nebraska is a landlocked state. On June 9, 2007, he gave the commencement address for North Central College and was given an honorary L.L.D.^[44] Hagel was the keynote speaker at the College of William and Mary's Charter Day in 2007, at which he was awarded an honorary degree of Public Service.^[45] On March 3, 2008, Hagel hosted a town hall meeting on domestic and foreign policy issues at the University of Maryland, at which the Center for American Politics and Citizenship (CAPC) gave him the Millard E. Tydings Award for Courage and Leadership in American Politics.^[46] Hagel served as the 2010 Clifford P. Case Professor of Public Affairs at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics, speaking at public programs in New Brunswick and Newark.^[47]

Current Positions[link]

Hagel currently teaches at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS), as a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance.^[48] He is Chairman of the Atlantic Council, Co-Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board; a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Policy Board and Secretary of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future; and is a member of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) board of directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation; the Advisory Boards of Deutsche Bank Americas; Corsair Capital; M.I.C. Industries; is a Director of the Zurich Holding Company of America; and is a Senior Advisor to McCarthy Capital Corporation.^[49]

References[link]