Leon Panetta

Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American retired politician and government official who served under several Democratic administrations as Secretary of Defense (2011–2013), Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2009–2011), White House Chief of Staff (1994–1997), director of the Office of Management and Budget (1993–1994), as well as a U.S. representative from California (1977–1993).

Panetta was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993. He served under President Bill Clinton as Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1994 and as White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997. He cofounded the Panetta Institute for Public Policy in 1997 and served as a distinguished scholar to chancellor Charles B. Reed of the California State University system and as a professor of public policy at Santa Clara University.

In January 2009, newly elected president Barack Obama nominated Panetta to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta was confirmed by the Senate in February 2009. As director of the CIA, Panetta oversaw the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. On April 28, 2011, Obama announced the nomination of Panetta as defense secretary to replace the retiring Robert Gates. In June, the Senate confirmed Panetta unanimously and he assumed the office on July 1, 2011. David Petraeus became CIA director on September 6, 2011.

Since retiring as Defense Secretary in 2013, Panetta has served as chairman of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, located at California State University, Monterey Bay, a campus of the California State University that he helped establish during his tenure as congressman. The institute is dedicated to motivating and preparing people for lives of public service and helping them to become more knowledgeably engaged in the democratic process. He also serves on a number of boards and commissions and frequently writes and lectures on public-policy issues.

Panetta's son, Jimmy, has held his father's former seat in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017.

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