Leon Panetta
Leon Panetta
Leon Edward Panettais an American statesman, lawyer, and professor. He served in the Obama administration as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011, and as Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013. A Democrat, Panetta was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993, served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1994, and as President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997. He is...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth28 June 1938
CityMonterey, CA
CountryUnited States of America
Both sides of the spectrum are really going to use the opportunity provided by Katrina to really begin to test some ideas that they otherwise couldn't test.
It is tough enough for the Secret Service to do its job without this. If I were still chief of staff, I would order the damned site (to) pull it down.
It's more a signal to the outside world. It's their way of saying they're paying attention.
The oceans continue to be in crisis and little progress has been made. We are loosing our fisheries. Ninety percent of big fish are already gone.
It seemed to me there was an opportunity to bring new life into the White House. You can't operate on a 24-7 clock and not lose energy. I'm not saying replace Card, but bring in some new people. He (Bush) is a loyal guy, likes his comfort zone and doesn't like to make changes. But it doesn't give the president any new ideas.
Unfortunately these days, there is a hell of a lot that keeps me awake.
Well, you know, any defense force worth its salt has to be able to deal with uncertainty, has to be able to deal with events that we may not have planned for.
The United States, and the president's made this clear, does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us. And it's a red line obviously for the Israelis so we share a common goal here.
There is a tremendous lack of leadership in both parties to address this issue.
Over the last 10 or 15 years, there's almost been a deliberate strategy to push all the tough decisions to the very end of a Congress, with the hope that you can ram them through as members try to get away for the holidays.
You're talking about a real problem facing this country at the very moment when we're expecting something like 70 to 80 million baby boomers to retire and to add additional costs to Social Security and Medicare. We're headed towards a fiscal cliff,
You've got to sit down with all of the special-interest groups on your side before you announce that decision and walk them through it. You need to determine if they're going to support it.
You really ought to think twice before you appoint a staff member to a position like Supreme Court justice. You have to ask whether that person really has the experience you need to be a justice. Usually, it will make more sense to go outside the White House.
They feel confident that we will be able to bring the person responsible for this outrage to justice,