George John Tenet (born January 5, 1953) is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and 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 from July 11, 1997 to July 11, 2004, when his deputy director, John E. McLaughlin became acting Director. He was one of the longest serving Directors of the Agency.
CIA
Tenet 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. This followed the withdrawal of Anthony Lake, whose nomination had been blocked by Republicans in Congress. 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.
Long before the September 11, 2001 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 was seen as a major failure.
According to a report by veteran investigative journalist Bob Woodward in his book Plan of Attack, Tenet privately lent his personal authority to the intelligence reports about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. At a meeting on December 12, 2002 he is said to have assured the President that the evidence against Saddam amounted to a "slam dunk case," although Tenet has refused to confirm that he said this. The search following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S., British and international forces has proved unproductive and no stockpiles of WMD were found following the occupation of the country. The case of the invading governments for a legitimate war against Iraq had been based largely on the threat of WMDs in the hands of Saddam Hussein, supposedly on the strength of reliable intelligence assessments, including evidence that could not itself be made public. Thus a failure subsequently to find any banned weapons or programs became a considerable embarrassment for Tenet and the CIA.
The resignation of both Tenet and CIA Deputy Director for Operations James Pavitt in June 2004 may be related to this 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."
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. 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).
On December 14, 2004, George Bush awarded Tenet the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Personal
Tenet, the son of
He is married to A. Stephanie Glakas-Tenet. They have a son, John Michael. He currently teaches at Georgetown University, his alma mater. His cousin is Kristi Lauren Glakas, Miss Virginia 2005.
