Jeremy Bash reflects on his service during the Obama administration as chief of staff to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2009 to 2011 and chief of staff to the secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013. Bash describes his responsibilities at the CIA and the genesis of his working relationship with Leon Panetta. Bash details several key CIA operations during his tenure, inclu ding the 2010 operation to arrest a dozen Russian intelligence officers living in the U.S. under deep cover and subsequent spy swap brokered by Panetta. Bash also narrates key events and internal communications strategies surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden. Additionally, Bash describes Obama's efforts to end enhanced interrogations and CIA detentions through executive orders, as well as the thinking behind his cooperation with an ACLU lawsuit to release documents related to these activities. Focusing on his tenure at the Department of Defense (DOD), Bash reflects on the operationalization of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and describes Panetta’s process of consensus-building around budgetary decisions. Bash details his and Panetta's involvement in key DOD personnel decisions, namely the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and opening of combat roles to women. Bash surveys on a number of other key moments during his tenure, including efforts to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program, the winding down of troops in Iraq, nation-building exercises in Afghanistan, the Asia Rebalance, and U.S. military intervention in Libya
Gay military personnel--Government policy--United States; Women in combat--Government policy--United States; Presidents--Staff.--United States; Torture--Law and legislation--United States; Libya History Civil War, 2011-; Bash, Jeremy; Obama, Barack; Panetta, Leon E., 1938-; Bin Laden, Osama, 1957-2011; United States. Department of Defense; United States; United States. Central Intelligence Agency; Budget Control Act of 2011; Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
65 pages
Note (Biographical)
Jeremy Bash is a lawyer who has served in multiple roles in the federal government. From 2009 to 2011, Bash was the chief of staff to Leon Panetta, during both Panetta's service as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011, and as secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013. He also served on the Obama-Biden transition team. Earlier in his career, from 2004 to 2008, Bash served in a variety of roles on Capitol Hill, including chief counsel to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and as a senior national security advisor to Congresswoman Jane Harman. In 2000, Mr. Bash was the defense and foreign policy director of the presidential campaign of Vice President Al Gore, and he was a member of Gore’s legal team during the 36-day recount in Florida. After leaving the Obama administration, he became founder and managing director of Beacon Global Strategies, LLC. At the time of the interview, he was also a national security analyst for NBC and MSNBC
Note
Interviewed by Evan D. McCormick on July 14, 2021. This interview is part of Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Jeremy B. Bash, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022