Chuck Hagel discusses his career in American public life and service in the Obama administration, in which he was chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) from 2009 to 2013 and secretary of defense from 2013 to 2015. Hagel remembers the context in which the 2008 presidential election unfolded, and explains his decisions to endorse neither Obama or John McCain, and to not seek ree lection to the U.S. Senate. He outlines the structure and function of the PIAB, and describes his nomination and confirmation as secretary of defense, which was notable because of the hostility of the questioning he received from Senate Republicans. Hagel also provides details about the major foreign policy events, issues, and initiatives with which he was closely involved during the period of his service, including the U.S. response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons, the Russian annexation of Crimea, the rise of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt, and the rebalance of U.S. diplomatic and military attention from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific. Also discussed are the reforms taken in the aftermath of the Pentagon's May 2013 report about the prevalence of sexual assault in the military, Hagel's role in the release of detainees from the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility, the processes by which the Obama White House analyzed foreign policy situations and made foreign policy decisions, and Hagel's relationships with White House staff, including the circumstances that led to the announcement of his resignation in 2014
Presidents--United States; Rape in the military--United States; Chemical weapons--Syria; Crimea (Ukraine) Annexation to Russia (Federation); Hagel, Chuck, 1946-; Obama, Barack; Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp; United States. Department of Defense; United States. President's Intelligence Advisory Board
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2020
Physical Description
104 pages
Note (Biographical)
Chuck Hagel served as secretary of defense during President Obama's second term from 2013 to 2015. Secretary Hagel represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate from 1997 to 2009. After retiring from the Senate he served in a number of positions in Washingt on including chairman at the Atlantic Council, co-chairman of Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board, and as a professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown among other postings
Note
Interviewed by Evan D. McCormick on October 14, 15, and 26, 2020. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Chuck Hagel, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022