Kenneth Braithwaite

Kenneth John Braithwaite II (born 1960) is an American politician, diplomat and businessman who served as the 77th secretary of the Navy from May 29, 2020, to January 20, 2021. Prior to that, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Norway, beginning February 8, 2018. Braitwaite is also a retired U.S. Navy one-star rear admiral, having served in the Iraq War. He was a top advisor to former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter from 1997 to 2000, and a borough councilman in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania from 1993 to 1996.

Kenneth Braithwaite
77th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office
May 29, 2020  January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyGregory J. Slavonic (acting)
Preceded byRichard V. Spencer
Succeeded byThomas Harker (acting)
31st United States Ambassador to Norway
In office
February 8, 2018  May 29, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded bySamuel D. Heins
Succeeded byRichard Riley (acting)
Personal details
Born
Kenneth John Braithwaite II

1960 (age 6061)
Livonia, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Melissa
Children2
EducationUnited States Naval Academy (BS)
University of Pennsylvania (MPA)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1984–1993 (active)
1993–2011 (reserve)
RankRear Admiral (lower half)
Battles/warsIraq War
AwardsLegion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Combat Action Ribbon

Early life and education

Braithwaite is from Livonia, Michigan.[1][2] He attended the United States Naval Academy and graduated with a bachelor's degree in naval engineering and political science in 1984.[3][4] He later earned a master's degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania, Fels Institute of Government,[5] in 1995.[6]

Braithwaite obtained additional graduate qualifications from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, as well as the Air Command and Staff College at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.[7]

From 1993 to 1996, Braithwaite served as town councilman for the borough of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.[8] He later became a top advisor for former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania from 1997 to 2000, serving as his state director.[9]

Military career

Official portrait of Rear Admiral Braithwaite, c.2007

Braithwaite was commissioned as an ensign in 1984,[1] and was initially selected as a special assistant in the Office of Legislative Affairs on Capitol Hill. He became a naval aviator in April 1986 and was assigned to anti-submarine patrol missions with Patrol Squadron 17 out of Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii.[6] In April 1988 he was reassigned to public affairs duties[6] as director of public affairs aboard the aircraft carrier USS America (CV-66), and in 1990 he became the chief of public affairs to the commander of Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.[10]

Braithwaite's active duty service ended in 1993, but he immediately joined the Navy Reserve.[6] He continued to perform various public affairs assignments until his retirement in 2011.[3][11] From 1993 until 2002, he served in different roles with numerous commands, including the 6th Fleet, 7th Fleet, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Commander Carrier Group Two.

In 2002, he was selected as commanding officer of Navy Combat Camera Atlantic (Reserve) and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he was deployed with his command in support of combat operations. In 2004, he was selected as the director of the Joint Public Affairs Support Element-Reserve, part of Joint Enabling Capabilities Command. In this role, he commanded a 50-person joint public affairs expeditionary unit that was forward deployed to support Combatant Commanders in time of conflict. In 2005, he deployed to Islamabad, Pakistan to serve as the director of Strategic Communications, concurrently reporting to the commander for Disaster Response and to the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.[12][13]

He was nominated to the rank of rear admiral (lower half) in early 2007[14] while serving as director of the Joint Public Affairs Support Element at Norfolk.[15] His promotion was approved by the U.S. Senate that June.[16][17] He served as the Navy's vice chief of Information until his retirement in June 2011.[18]

Business career

Braithwaite, then-vice chair of Information, meets with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on July 1, 2008

Upon leaving active duty in June 1993 Braithwaite enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania.[19] Shortly thereafter he was hired by Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) as Manager of Operations where he managed a multi-disciplined, union-represented workforce. He was later assigned to ARCO's Washington DC office to work on regulatory affairs.[20] When ARCO was acquired by British Petroleum in 1997,[21] Braithwaite was hired by Pennsylvania's senior US Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) to serve as his State Director leading the senator's offices across the Commonwealth.

In 2000 Braithwaite was asked to join Saint Thomas Health System of Nashville, Tennessee as their Vice President of Public & Government Affairs. The following year Braithwaite was promoted to be the Chief Advocacy Officer of St Thomas's parent company, Ascension Health, the nation's largest not-for-profit faith-based hospital system. In this role he returned to Washington, D.C., to focus on healthcare policy. Returning from active military duty in Pakistan in 2006, Braithwaite was hired to be the Executive Director of the Delaware Valley Hospital Council in Philadelphia where he helped to lead the merger of DVHC into the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) becoming a Senior Vice President of HAP in 2007.

In the fall of 2011, after retiring from military service, Braithwaite joined VHA of Dallas, Texas, where he led the merger of three divisions of the company to become the Executive Officer of VHA MidAtlantic. In this role, he led the struggling divisions to become the most successful in the company within two years. In 2014 and 2015 he also helped lead the mergers of VHA, Inc., UHC, and MedAssets to become Vizient, a hospital group purchasing and strategic improvement company where he served as Group Senior Vice President.

Cambridge Analytica

In the summer of 2016, while serving as a senior mentor at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany, he was approached by an associate instructor at the school to explore a potential opportunity with SCL/Cambridge Analytica which never materialized. In January 2020, CBS reported that Braithwaite may have had a business relationship with Cambridge Analytica before he became ambassador to Norway. However, in a statement to CBS News, Braithwaite acknowledged discussions with Cambridge Analytica but said they were short-lived and that he never signed an employment contract or received payment from the company.[22] Braithwaite also said the State Department Legal Office of Ethics and Financial Disclosure "concurs" that he did not have to disclose any connection to Cambridge Analytica.[23]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington suggested that he had a conflict of interest when he presented the U.S. Ambassador's Award to Norwegian shipping magnate Thomas Wilhelmsen because Wilhelmsen's cousin and co-heir to the Wilhelmsen company Olympia Paus is married to Alexander Nix, the former CEO of Cambridge Analytica.[23] Braithwaite denied that he had a conflict of interest.[23]

Government career

Braithwaite being sworn-in as the 77th U.S. secretary of the Navy, with his wife Melissa holding the Bible, on May 29, 2020

Braithwaite was nominated by President Donald Trump[24] to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Norway. His nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 21, 2017, by voice vote.[24]

On November 24, 2019, after the firing of Richard V. Spencer, Trump said he would nominate Braithwaite to become the U.S. secretary of the Navy. He was formally nominated on March 2, 2020,[25] confirmed by voice vote on May 21,[26] and sworn in on May 29, 2020.[27][28][29]

Awards and decorations

Braithwaite's personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V”, Navy Achievement Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon and various other awards.[12][30]

Personal life

Kenneth Braithwaite and his wife Melissa have one daughter, Grace, and one son, Harrison.[11] Outside of his military and political career, Braithwaite is a sailor and amateur historian.[31][32]

References

  1. "PN657 — Civilian". U.S. Congress. February 9, 1984. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  2. "U.S. Ambassador to Norway: Who Is Kenneth Braithwaite?". AllGov. November 10, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  3. "Ken Braithwaite Joins VHA Inc. as Senior Vice President and Executive Officer for VHA's East Coast and Pennsylvania Offices". Marketwired via Yahoo! News. November 1, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  4. "Notable Graduates Kenneth J. Braithwaite". U.S. Naval Academy. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  5. "Giving by individuals to projects and programs" (PDF). Penn Arts and Sciences. June 30, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  6. "Biography". U.S. Navy. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  7. "Kenneth J. Braithwaite". U. S. Department of State. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  8. "Braithwaite Kenneth J. – Kingdom of Norway – October 2017" (Certificate of Competency). U.S. State Department. October 15, 2017.
  9. Terruso, Julia (November 25, 2019). "Trump's pick to lead the Navy is a Penn grad and former suburban Philadelphia councilman". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  10. "Rear Admiral Kenneth J. Braithwaite, II Retired". U. S. Department of the Navy. July 16, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  11. Meehan, Patrick (June 23, 2011). "Honoring Rear Admiral Kenneth J. Braithwaite, II". U.S. Congress. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  12. "Braithwaite Kenneth J. – Kingdom of Norway – October 2017". state.gov. October 15, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  13. Carey, Kathleen E. (October 24, 2017). "Ex-Ridley Park pol picked as ambassador to Norway". The Delaware County Daily Times. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  14. "SECDEF Announces Flag Officer Assignments". www.navy.mil. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  15. "SECDEF Announces Flag Officer Assignments". U. S. Department of the Navy. February 27, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  16. "PN296 - 1 nominee for Navy, 110th Congress (2007-2008)". www.congress.gov. June 28, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  17. "PN296 — Capt. Kenneth J. Braithwaite — Navy". U.S. Congress. June 28, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  18. "Congressional Record". www.congress.gov. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  19. "Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite". U.S. Embassy in Norway.
  20. "U.S. Ambassador to Norway: Who Is Kenneth Braithwaite?". AllGov.
  21. Rivera Brooks, Nancy (April 1, 1999). "BP Amoco Will Acquire Arco for $27 Billion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  22. "Esper warns of tough decisions in Pentagon budget due out next month". Washington Examiner. January 28, 2020.
  23. "Secretary of the Navy nominee may have had undisclosed contract with Cambridge Analytica, documents suggest". www.cbsnews.com.
  24. "PN1173 — Kenneth J. Braithwaite — Department of State". U.S. Congress. October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  25. "Seventeen Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate". The White House.
  26. "PN1602 — Kenneth J. Braithwaite — Department of Defense". U.S. Congress. May 21, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  27. "Kenneth Braithwaite Sworn in as Secretary of the Navy". USNI News.
  28. Kenney, Caitlin (May 29, 2020). "Kenneth Braithwaite is sworn in as the 77th Secretary of the Navy". Stripes. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  29. Glenn, Mike (May 29, 2020). "New Navy Secretary sworn in at the Pentagon". The Washington Times. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  30. Tankersley, Shelby (June 5, 2020). "Livonia native Kenneth Braithwaite named U.S. Navy secretary". Hometown Life. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  31. "Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite". U.S. Embassy in Norway. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  32. "'We Who Love History Need to Bring It Alive'". U.S. Naval Institute. February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Samuel D. Heins
United States Ambassador to Norway
2018–2020
Succeeded by
Richard Riley
Acting
Political offices
Preceded by
James E. McPherson
Acting
United States Secretary of the Navy
2020–present
Incumbent
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