Leon Panetta

Panetta started in politics in 1966 as a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Thomas Kuchel, the United States Senate Minority Whip from California, whom Panetta has called "a tremendous role model".[12]

In 1969 he became the assistant to Robert H. Finch, Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under the Nixon administration. Soon thereafter he was appointed Director of the Office for Civil Rights.[13]

Panetta chose to enforce civil rights and equal education laws over the objection of President Nixon, who wanted enforcement to move slowly in keeping with his strategy to gain political support among Southern whites.[14] Robert Finch and Assistant Secretary John Veneman supported Panetta and refused to fire him, threatening to resign if forced to do so.[15] Eventually forced out of office in 1970, Panetta left Washington to work as Executive Assistant for John Lindsay, the then-Republican Mayor of New York City (Lindsay would switch parties the following year.) Panetta wrote about his Nixon administration experience in his 1971 book Bring Us Together.[16]

He moved back to Monterey to practice law at Panetta, Thompson & Panetta from 1971 to 1976.[17]

1977 Congressional portrait of Panetta

Like Lindsay, Panetta switched to the Democratic Party in 1971, because, he said, he thought that the Republican Party was moving away from the political center.[18] In 1976, Panetta was elected to the U.S. Congress to represent California's then-16th congressional district, unseating incumbent Republican Burt Talcott with 53% of the vote. He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was reelected eight times.[19][20][21] (With a few boundary adjustments, the 16th district became the 17th district after the 1990 census and is the 20th district today. It consists of all of Monterey and San Benito Counties, plus most of Santa Cruz County, including the city of Santa Cruz. At the time of Panetta's first election, it also included the northern part of San Luis Obispo County.)

During his time in Congress, Panetta concentrated mostly on budget issues, civil rights, education, healthcare, agriculture, immigration, and environmental protection, particularly preventing oil drilling off the California coast. He wrote the Hunger Prevention Act (Public Law 100-435) of 1988 and the Fair Employment Practices Resolution. He was the author of legislation establishing the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary,[22] and legislation providing Medicare coverage for hospice care. Working with Chancellor Barry Munitz of CSU, he helped establish CSU Monterey Bay at the former Fort Ord military base.

He also attempted to form the Big Sur National Scenic Area with Senator Alan Cranston.[23] The bill would have created a 700,000 acres (280,000 ha) scenic area administered by the U.S. Forest Service. It budgeted $100 million to buy land from private land owners, up to $30 million for easements and management programs, and created a state plan for a zone about 75 miles (121 km) long and 5 miles (8.0 km) wide along the Big Sur coast.

The bill was opposed by California Senator S. I. Hayakawa, development interests, and Big Sur residents. Local residents mocked the plan as 'Panetta's Pave 'n' Save,' and raised a fund of more than $100,000 to lobby against the proposal.[24][25] The legislation was blocked by Hayakawa in the Energy Committee and did not reach a vote.[26][27][28]

A member of the House Committee on the Budget from 1979 to 1989, and its chairman from 1989 to 1993, Panetta played a key role in the 1990 Budget Summit.[29][30]

His positions included:

• Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on the Budget
• Chairman of the Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations, and Nutrition
• Chairman of the Administration Committee's Subcommittee on Personnel and Police
• Chairman of the Task Force on Domestic Hunger created by the U.S. House Select Committee on Hunger
• Vice Chairman of the Caucus of Vietnam-Era Veterans in Congress
• Member of the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies.

Though elected to a ninth term in 1992, Panetta left the House at the beginning of 1993, after President-elect Bill Clinton selected him to serve as Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget. In that role he developed the budget package that would eventually result in the balanced budget of 1998.

Panetta with President Bill Clinton and Anthony Lake in October 1994

In 1994, President Clinton became increasingly concerned about a lack of order and focus in the White House and asked Panetta to become his new chief of staff, replacing Mack McLarty. According to author Nigel Hamilton, "Panetta replaced McLarty for the rest of Clinton's first term—and the rest is history. To be a great leader, a modern president must have a great chief of staff—and in Leon Panetta, Clinton got the enforcer he deserved."[31] Panetta was appointed White House Chief of Staff on July 17, 1994, and he held that position until January 20, 1997. He was a key negotiator of the 1996 budget, which was another important step toward bringing the budget into balance.[32][33]

President Barack Obama speaks to CIA employees at CIA Headquarters in Langley, April 20, 2009

On January 5, 2009, President-elect Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Panetta to the post of Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.[1]

At the time of his selection, journalists and politicians raised concerns about Panetta's limited experience in intelligence, aside from his two-year service as a military intelligence officer in the 1960s. California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, expressed concerns that she was not consulted about the Panetta appointment and stated her belief that "the Agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time."[34]

Former CIA officer Ishmael Jones stated that Panetta was a wise choice, because of his close personal connection to the President and lack of exposure to the CIA bureaucracy.[35][36] Also, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said that Panetta did have exposure to intelligence operations as Director of the OMB and as Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton, where he "sat in on the daily intelligence briefings as chief of staff, and he reviewed the nation's most secret intelligence-collection and covert-action programs in his previous post as director of the Office of Management and Budget".[37]

On February 12, 2009, Panetta was confirmed in the full Senate by voice vote.[38]

Panetta as Director of the CIA.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Message from the Director: Interrogation Policy and Contracts

On February 19, 2009, Panetta was sworn in as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency by Vice President Joe Biden before an audience of CIA employees. Panetta reportedly received a "rock star welcome" from his new subordinates.[39]

As CIA Director, Panetta traveled extensively to intelligence outposts around the world and worked with international leaders to confront threats of Islamic extremism and Taliban. In 2010 working with the Senate Intelligence Committee, he conducted a secret review of the use of torture by the CIA (euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation techniques") during the administration of George W. Bush. The review, which came to be known by 2014 as the "Panetta Review," yielded a series of memoranda that, according to The New York Times, "cast a particularly harsh light" on the Bush-era interrogation program.[40] The Times notes "The effort to write the exhaustive history of the C.I.A.’s detention operations was fraught from the beginning. President Obama officially ended the program... during his first week in office, in 2009. The intelligence committee announced its intention to take a hard look at the program, but there was little appetite inside the [Obama] White House to accede to the committee’s request for all classified C.I.A. cables related to it." The findings of the Panetta Review reportedly aligned with much of what the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture[40] found in its factual accounting. Both reports were largely seen as an effort in fact-finding and prevention, but not a governmental path towards some possible project of accountability or punishment for past interrogation or torture.

Panetta supported the Obama administration's campaign of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, which he identified as the "most effective weapon" against senior al-Qaeda leadership.[41][42] Drone strikes increased significantly under Panetta, with as many as 50 suspected al-Qaeda militants being killed in May 2009 alone.[43][44]

As Director of the CIA, Panetta oversaw the hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, and played a key role in the operation in which bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011.[45][46]

Under Panetta, the CIA advanced workplace rights and benefits for LGBT employees; the agency for the first time implemented policies extending benefits to the same-sex partners of employees.[47]

Panetta being sworn in as Secretary of Defense.

On April 28, 2011, President Obama announced the nomination of Panetta as United States Secretary of Defense as a replacement for retiring Secretary Robert Gates. On June 21, 2011, the Senate confirmed Panetta in an unusual 100–0 vote.[48] He was sworn in on July 1, 2011.

One of Panetta's first major acts as Defense Secretary was to jointly certify with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the military was prepared to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which triggered final repeal after 60 days.

In August 2011, Panetta publicly warned that deeper cuts in the defense budget risked hollowing out the military and would hamper Pentagon efforts to deal with rising powers such as China, North Korea, and Iran and he urged Congress not to go beyond the roughly $500 billion in defense cuts required over the next decade under the debt reduction bill signed by President Barack Obama. Working with military and civilian leaders at the Department of Defense, Panetta developed a new defense strategy for the 21st century.

Funding the United States military, in the face of tightening budget constraints, became an ongoing theme of Panetta's tenure. He also warned that future service members may see changes in retirement benefits, and that the military healthcare system may need reforms, to rein in costs, while also ensuring quality care.[49]

Panetta with Saudi Arabian Minister of Defense Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Pentagon, April 11, 2012

Leon Panetta with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome

Panetta being interviewed by Jake Tapper, May 2012

Another major issue during Panetta's tenure as Defense Secretary was the Obama administration's diplomatic effort to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In January 2012, Panetta stated that nuclear weapons development was a "red line" that Iran would not be allowed to cross—and that the United States was keeping all options, including military ones, open to completely prevent it. He said that Iran would not be allowed to block the Straits of Hormuz.

In January 2013, shortly before his departure from the Defense Secretary post, Panetta announced that women would be allowed to enter all combat jobs in the military, citing an assessment phase in which "each branch of service will examine all its jobs and units not currently integrated and then produce a timetable for integrating them".[50]

Panetta giving his farewell speech to Europe at King's College London in January 2013.[51]

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta gives the traditional Cambodian thank you from the steps of his aircraft before departing Siem Reap, Cambodia on 16 November 2012

Panetta and his wife Sylvia founded the Panetta Institute for Public Policy in December 1997 and served as co-directors there until 2009, when Panetta was appointed CIA director by President Obama. He has since returned to the Institute in the role of Chairman, while his wife serves as Co-Chair and CEO, supervising the Institute's day-to-day operations. The Institute is located at California State University, Monterey Bay, a campus Panetta was instrumental in creating on the site of the decommissioned Fort Ord Army base when he was a Congressman. Coincidentally, Panetta was stationed at Fort Ord in the 1960s during his service as an Army intelligence officer.

Panetta served on the board of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, as a Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of California State University[52] and as a Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University. He was urged to consider running for Governor of California during the recall election in 2003 but declined in part because of the short time available to raise the necessary campaign funds.[53]

Panetta has long been an advocate for the world's oceans. In addition to introducing legislation and winning passage of ocean protections measures such as the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary during his time in Congress,[52][54][55] he was named chairman in 2003 of the Pew Oceans Commission, which in 2005 combined with the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy to establish the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative. Panetta now co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative with Admiral James D. Watkins, U.S. Navy (Ret.)[56] and continues to serve as a Commission member. Panetta also serves as an advocate and information source for other ocean organizations, including the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation[57] and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.[58]

In 2006, Panetta was part of the presidentially-appointed Iraq Study Group, or Baker Commission, which studied potential changes in U.S. policy in Iraq.[59][60]

Panetta speaks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, July 27, 2016

Panetta with Defense Secretary Mark Esper on December 7, 2019

In 2014, Panetta published his memoir Worthy Fights, in which he recounted his long career in public service. While overwhelmingly positive in his assessment of the Obama presidency, Panetta aired some disagreements in the book with the President's policies in Syria and Iraq. Panetta said: "By failing to persuade Iraq's leader to allow a continuing force of US troops, the commander in chief "created a vacuum . . . and it's out of that vacuum that ISIS began to breed."[61]

He regularly obtains fees for speaking engagements, including from the Carlyle Group.[62] He is also a supporter of Booz Allen Hamilton.[63][64]

Panetta was a speaker on Day 3 of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in which Hillary Clinton was nominated to run as the Democratic candidate in the presidential election that year. Notably, his speech was booed by anti-war supporters of Bernie Sanders who protested his war record.[65]

Panetta told CBS News that Congress releasing the Nunes Memo, which purported to provide intelligence about the open Russia probe, could cause damage to national security.[66]

In January 2021, all ten living former defense secretaries, including Panetta, raised alarm in an open letter against a military coup to overturn the election results, warning officials who would participate and specifically naming the temporary acting secretary of defense Christopher C. Miller as the problem and that he and other acting political appointees at the Department of Defense would face grave consequences if they violated the constitution. They continued that any current member of the Trump Administration should “refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.” [67] [68]

Panetta has held positions within a number of institutions and corporations, including:

• Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, Commissioner and Co-Chair[69][70]
• Pew Oceans Commission, Commissioner and Chairman[71]
• Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Co-Chair[72]
• Bread for the World, Board of Directors
• National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Board of Directors[73]
• National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, Board of Directors (2004–2009)
• New York Stock Exchange,
  • Co-chairman of the Corporate Accountability and Listing Standards Committee
  • Board of Directors (1997–present)
• Close Up Foundation, Board of Directors (1999–present)
• Connetics Investor Relations, Board of Directors (2000–present)[74]
• Fleishman-Hillard,[75]
  • Co-chairman of the Corporate Accountability and Listing Standards Committee
  • Co-chairman of the Corporate Credibility Advisory practice
  • Member of the International Advisory Board
• Junior Statesmen Foundation Inc., Trustee (2004)
• Public Policy Institute of California, Board of Directors[76]
• Blue Shield of California, Board of Directors (2013–present)
• Oracle Corporation, Board of Directors (2015–present)[77]

In June 2002, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops appointed Panetta to their National Review Board,[78] which was created to look into the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal. This created controversy because of Panetta's pro-choice stance on abortion and other views seen as conflicting with those of the Church.

Panetta is also a member of the Partnership for a Secure America's bipartisan Advisory Board. The Partnership is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes bipartisan solutions to national security and foreign policy issues.

Panetta serves on the Advisory Board of the Committee to Investigate Russia.[79]

Panetta is married to Sylvia Marie Varni, who administered his home district offices during his terms in Congress.[80][81] They live on his family's twelve-acre walnut farm in the Carmel Valley, California. They have three sons and six grandchildren.[22] In 2016, their third son, Jimmy, a former Monterey County Deputy District Attorney, won election to his father's old congressional seat, now numbered as the 20th District.