Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is Democratic politician and scholar from California's Central Coast. He served as White House Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, and before that was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 1994. He is the founder and director of the Panetta Institute, serves as Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of the California State University system and is a professor at Santa Clara University teaching public policy.
Early life and schooling
Panetta was born in Monterey, California, the son of Italian immigrants who owned a restaurant there. He was raised in the Monterey area, and attended Catholic schools St. Carlos Grammar School and Carmel Mission School. He continued his education at Monterey High School, a public school where he became involved in student politics. As a junior he was Vice President of the Student Body, and became President of the Student Body as a senior.
In 1956 he entered Santa Clara University, and in 1960 he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He also received a Juris Doctor in 1963 from the Santa Clara University Law School, and soon after began practicing law.
In 1964 he joined the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant. There he received the Army Commendation Medal, and was discharged in 1966 as a Captain.
Political career
Panetta started politics in 1966 as a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Thomas Kuchel, the United States Senate Minority Whip from California, whom Panetta has called "a tremendous role model"[1].
In 1969 he became the assistant to Robert H. Finch, Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under the Nixon administration. Soon thereafter he was appointed Director of the Office for Civil Rights.
Panetta chose to enforce civil rights and equal education laws, even under political pressure not to from then-president Nixon, who was implementing his "Southern strategy". Robert Mardian said of Panetta: "Doesn't he understand Nixon promised the Southern delegates he would stop enforcing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts?"[2]. Secretary Finch and Assistant Secretary John Veneman refused to fire Panetta, threatening to resign if forced to do so. A few weeks later in 1970, Panetta resigned and left Washington to work as Executive Assistant for John Lindsay, the Republican Mayor of New York City. He wrote about this experience in his 1971 book Bring Us Together: The Nixon Team and the Civil Rights Retreat.
He moved back to Monterey to practice law at Panetta, Thompson & Panetta from 1971 through to 1976.
Congressional work
Panetta switched to the Democratic Party in 1971, as he felt the Republican Party was moving away from the center and was working against civil rights legislation. In 1976 he was elected to Congress to represent California's 16th congressional district (the 17th district after the 1990 census), and was reelected for nine terms.
During his time in Congress, his work concentrated mostly on budget issues, civil rights, education, health, and environmental issues, particularly preventing oil drilling off the California coast. He wrote the Hunger Prevention Act (Public Law 100-435) of 1988 and the Fair Employment Practices Resolution. He was a major factor in establishing the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
His positions included:
Budget work
Panetta (right) meets with National Security Advisor Anthony Lake and President Clinton in 1994.
He was a key participant of the 1990 Budget Summit, and served on the U.S. House Committee on the Budget from 1979 to 1985, as well as being the chairman from 1989 to 1993.
In 1993, the beginning of his ninth term, he was chosen by then-President Bill Clinton to be Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget. He is credited with developing the budget package that would eventually result in the balanced budget of 1998. On July 17, 1994, he was appointed White House Chief of Staff by Clinton, a position he held until January 20, 1997. He was an important negotiator of the 1996 budget, which was another important step towards balancing the budget.
After politics
Panetta and his wife founded the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy in December 1998, where they serve as the Institute's directors. The Institute is located at California State University, Monterey Bay. Panetta was instrumental in creating CSU Monterey by converting Fort Ord, where he was chief of operations and planning of the intelligence section when he was in the army, into the university. Currently, Panetta serves as distinguished scholar to the chancellor of University of California and as Presidential Professor at University of California, Santa Cruz's Politics department, with both universities allowing him to teach. He also teaches once a year at Santa Clara University. He was urged to consider running for Governor of California during the recall election in 2003 but declined in part because of the short time available to raise money.
Panetta has long advocated for ocean health. As a member of Congress from California’s 16th, he authored numerous successful measures to protect the California coast[3], including legislation creating the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.[4][5] In 2003, Panetta was named chairman and commissioner of the Pew Oceans Commission, which in 2005 combined with the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy to establish the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative. Panetta now co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative with Admiral James D. Watkins, U.S. Navy (Ret.).[6] Panetta continues to pursue his commitment to ocean and marine life issues, serving as a resource for legislators and the media, advocating for ocean reform on behalf of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative as well as other ocean organizations, including the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation[7] and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.[8]
In 2006 he was part of the Iraq Study Group aka the Baker Commission.
Responsibilities
Joint Ocean Commission Initiative
- Commissioner and Co-Chair[9]
Pew Oceans Commission
Bread for the World
National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
- Member of the Board of Directors[11]
New York Stock Exchange
- Co-chairman of the Corporate Accountability and Listing Standards Committee
- Board of Directors since 1997
Close Up Foundation
- Board of Directors, Member since 1999
Connetics Investor Relations
- Board of Directors since March 2000[12]
Fleishman-Hillard[13]
- Co-chairman of the Corporate Accountability and Listing Standards Committee
- Co-chairman of the Corporate Credibility Advisory practice
- Member of the International Advisory Board
Junior Statesmen Foundation Inc.
Public Policy Institute of California
- Board of Directors since 2007[14]
In June 2002 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops put him on their National Review Board[15], which was created to look into the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal. This created controversy because of Panetta's pro-choice stands on abortion and other views seen as conflicting with those of the Church.
Personal life
Panetta married Sylvia Marie Varni, who administered his home district offices during his terms in Congress.
Currently, he lives on his family's 12 acre (49,000 m²) walnut farm in Carmel Valley with his wife. They have three sons: Christopher, Carmelo, and James, and five grandchildren[16].
In 2008, severe storms caused the Walnut trees to be destroyed. He now plans to raise bees.
Awards
- 1969 — Abraham Lincoln Award, National Education Association
- 1984 — A. Philip Randolph Award
- 1988 — Golden Plow Award, American Farm Bureau Federation[17]
- 1991 — President's Award, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
- 1991 — Coastal and Ocean Management Award, Coastal Zone Foundation
- 1993 — Peter Burnett Award for Distinguished Public Service
- 1995 — Distinguished Public Service Medal, Center for the Study of the Presidency
- 1997 — Special Achievement Award for Public Service, National Italian American Foundation
- 2001 — John H. Chafee Coastal Stewardship Award, Coastal America
- 2002 — Law Alumni Special Achievement Award, Santa Clara University School of Law Alumni Association[18]
- 2003 — Julius A Stratton "Champion of the Coast" Award for Coastal Leadership
- 2006 — Paul Peck Award
References
Notes
External links
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