George Tenet
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George John Tenet (born
January 5,
1953) is a former
United States Director of Central Intelligence. He submitted his resignation to the President on
June 3,
2004, citing "personal reasons". He served as CIA Director until
July 11,
2004, when his deputy director,
John McLaughlin became acting Director.
CIA
\nTenet served as the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from June 1995 until he became Director on July 11, 1997 after a unanimous confirmation vote in the United States Senate. While the Director of Central Intelligence is typically replaced when a new administration comes to power, Tenet served through the end of the Clinton administration and well into the term of George W. Bush.
During the 1998 Wye River Middle East peace talks, Tenet threatened to resign if President Clinton pardoned convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. Some speculate that his independence as DCI is what kept him in the position when the Republican Bush administration came to power.
Long before the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, Tenet focused on the growing threat of terrorism, particularly from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist group, and the nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. On September 15 2001, at Camp David, he presented the Worldwide Attack Matrix, an outline of an anti-terrorism campaign in 80 countries.
However, the CIA was unable to prevent the attacks and this is seen as a major failure. The search for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) has been difficult and largely unproductive. To this date, no stockpiles of WMD have been found in Iraq, since the US occupation. However, field reports have claimed the use of mustard gas and sarin against coalition forces since the end of major combat operations. With over 8900 known munitions caches in Iraq, the possibility remains that WMDs may lie undiscovered.
The resignation of both Tenet and CIA Deputy Director James Pavitt in June 2004 is speculated by some to be related to a failure to find the WMDs that the United States used to justify invasion. For example, Admiral Stansfield Turner (retired), director of the CIA under President Carter, said (Boston Herald, June 4, 2004): "I think the president feels he's in enough trouble that he's got to begin to cast some of the blame for the morass that we are in Iraq on to somebody else and this was one subtle way to do it." However, President George W. Bush said, "George Tenet did a superb job for America. It was a high honor to work with him, and I'm sorry he left," and that Tenet resigned "for personal reasons" (Reuters, June 5 2004). Tenet's seven-year long term as CIA director was the second-longest in US history; a resignation so soon before an election, especially one in which intelligence-handling is a major issue, is also unusual.
Personal
\nTenet, the son of working-class Albanian immigrants, was raised in Queens, attended public schools, and worked in his family's deli. Tenet holds a Bachelor's degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a Master's degree from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University.
He is married to A. Stephanie Glakas-Tenet. They have one son, John Michael.
External links
\n*CIA's info webpage for Director George Tenet\n*Disinfopedia entry for George Tenet
{| border="1" align="center"\n| width="30%" align="center"| Preceded by:
John M. Deutch \n| width="40%" align="center"| Director of the C.I.A\n| width="30%" align="center"| Succeeded by:
John E. McLaughlin\n|}
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