Richard Armitage (government official)

For the British actor of the same name, see Richard Armitage (actor).

Richard L. Armitage

Richard Lee Armitage (born April 26, 1945) was the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State, the second-in-command at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005, Previously, he was a high-ranking troubleshooter and negotiator in the Departments of State and Defense.

Early life and military career

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Armitage graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1967. Upon graduation, he joined the United States Navy, initially holding the rank of ensign. He served on a destroyer stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and volunteered to serve as an advisor to the Vietnamese riverine ("brown water") naval forces. In 1973, Armitage left active duty and joined the office of the U.S. Defense Attache in Saigon. (It has been frequently, and inaccurately, reported that Armitage was a member of the elite Navy SEALs, a mischaracterization that Armitage now corrects in interviews.)

Public service career

After leaving Saigon in May 1975, Armitage came to Washington, DC to serve as a consultant for the United States Department of Defense. However, he was immediately sent overseas again, and served in Tehran, Iran until November 1976. Following this posting, he moved to Bangkok and operated an import/export business in the private sector for two years. In 1978, he returned to the U.S. and began work as an aide to Senator Bob Dole, and in late 1980 served as a foreign policy advisor to President-elect Ronald Reagan.

Following this role, Armitage was made a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, a very high-ranking post in The Pentagon. He served in this position from 1981 to 1983. In June 1983, he was promoted to Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security. While there, he represented the Department of Defense in developing politico-military relationships and initiatives throughout the world, spearheaded U.S. Pacific security policy including the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-China security relationships, managed all Defense Department security assistance programs, and provided oversight of policies related to the law of the sea, U.S. special operations, and counter-terrorism. He played a leading role in Middle East Security Policies.

Armitage left this post in 1989 to serve as a special negotiator for the President on military bases in the Philippines, and as a mediator on water issues in the Middle East. In 1991, he was appointed a special emissary to King Hussein of Jordan. Following this, he was sent to Europe with the title of ambassador; his assignment was to direct U.S. foreign aid to the states that had been formed out of the fallen Soviet Union. He served here until 1993, at which point he entered the private sector.

He signed "The Project for the New American Century" letter (PNAC Letter) to President Bill Clinton in 1998. The letter urged Clinton to target the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power in Iraq due to erosion of the Gulf War Coalition's containment policy and the resulting possibility that Iraq might create weapons of mass destruction. The letter's intended purpose of removing Hussein was to protect Israel and other U.S. allies in the region including oil-producing Arab countries.

During the 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Armitage served as a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush as part of a group led by Condoleezza Rice that called itself The Vulcans.

The United States Senate confirmed him as Deputy Secretary of State on March 23, 2001; he was sworn in on March 26 of the same year. A close associate of Secretary of State Colin Powell, Armitage was regarded, along with Powell, as a moderate within the presidential administration of George W. Bush. Armitage tendered his resignation on November 16, 2004, the day after Powell announced his resignation as Secretary of State. Armitage left the post on February 22, 2005, when Robert Zoellick succeeded the office.

Life after public service

There was some media speculation that President Bush would appoint Armitage to a key security position such as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Director of National Intelligence or Defense Secretary. As of 2006, Armitage has not re-entered public service.

On May 10, 2006, Armitage was elected to the board of directors of the ConocoPhillips oil company.

Valerie Plame investigation

Main article: Plame affair

Journalist Bob Woodward of the Washington Post revealed on November 15, 2005 that "a government official with no ax to grind" leaked to him the identity of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame in mid-June 2003. According to an April 2006 Vanity Fair article (published March 14, 2006), former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee said in an interview "That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption," though Bradlee later told the Post that he "[did] not recall making that precise statement" in the interview.[1]

On March 2, 2006, bloggers discovered that "Richard Armitage" fit the spacing on a redacted court document, suggesting he was a source for the Plame leak.[2]

On August 21, 2006, the Associated Press published a story that revealed Armitage met with Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003. The information came from official State Department calendars, provided to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.[3]

In the September 4, 2006 issue of Newsweek magazine, in an article titled "The Man Who Said Too Much," journalist Michael Isikoff, quoting a "source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities," reported that Armitage was the original source for Robert Novak's piece outing Plame.[4] Isikoff also reported that Armitage had also told Bob Woodward of Plame's identity in 2003, and that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald investigated Armitage's role "aggressively," but did not charge Armitage with a crime because he "found no evidence that Armitage knew of Plame's covert CIA status when he talked to Novak and Woodward."

Novak, in an August 27, 2006 appearance on Meet the Press, stated that although he still would not release the name of his source, he felt it was long overdue that the source reveal himself.[5]

According to The Washington Note, Armitage has testified before the grand jury three times.[6]

Armitage has also reportedly been a cooperative and key witness in the investigation.

On August 29, 2006 Neil A. Lewis of The New York Times reported that Armitage is confirmed to be the first and primary source of the CIA leak investigation.[7]

Fitzgerald has issued no statement about Armitage's involvement, and as of August 2006, the CIA leak investigation remains open.

On August 30th 2006, CNN reported that Armitage had been confirmed "by sources" as leaking Valerie Plame's role as a CIA operative in a "casual conversation" with Robert Novak. [8]

Private life

Armitage and his wife have eight children. Elizabeth, Andrew, Lee, Jennifer, Paul, Christopher, Alice and Greg. They have also provided a home for more than 50 foster children.

Trivia

• Armitage is fluent in Vietnamese
• He is an active powerlifter.

External links

• Richard Armitage's Federal Campaign Contribution Report newsmeat.com
• Richard Armitage: the Combatant Who Dreamed of Diplomacy Voltaire Network, October 8, 2004
• [9] Elected to board of directors of ConocoPhillips