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. Richard L. Armitage portrait from U.S. Department of State [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Richard L. Armitage portrait from U.S. Department of State [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The Deputy Secretary of State of the United States is the chief assistant to the Secretary of State who is responsible for foreign affairs. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ...

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. 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.) The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and is located in Annapolis, Maryland. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... The United States Navy (also known as USN or the U.S. Navy) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~520,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành Chí Minh) is the largest city in Vietnam, located near the delta of the Mekong River. ... SEALs in from the water. ...

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. 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... A consultant (from the latin consultus meaning legal expert) is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular domain or area of expertise such as accountancy, technology, the law, human resources, marketing, medicine, finance, public affairs, communication, or more esoteric areas of knowledge, for example engineering of different kinds... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... Tehran (IPA: ; Persian: تهران, also transliterated as Teheran or Tehrān), population 7,160,094 (metropolitan: 14,000,000[citation needed]), and a land area of 658 square kilometers, is the capital city of Iran and the center of Tehran Province. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Seal of the U.S. Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... Robert Joseph Bob Dole (born July 22, 1923) is best known as a former Republican United States Senate Majority Leader and Senator from Kansas from 1969-1996. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A President-elect is a candidate who has officially been elected President, but who has not yet acceded to his Office, as it is still occupied by the out-going President. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ...

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. Seal of the United States Department of Defense The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense, concerned with the armed services and The Secretary is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate, and is a member of the Cabinet. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located at 48 N. Rotary Road, Arlington, Virginia 22211 (Map). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of Defense. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... Sino-American relations (Simplified Chinese: 中美关系; pinyin: Zhōng-Měi Guānxì) refers to international relations between the United States and China. ... Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ... Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, tactics, and strategies that governments, militaries, and other groups adopt in order to fight terrorism. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

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. 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: ; November 14, 1935 – February 7, 1999) was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1952 to 1999. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of Earth; the term continent here referring to a cultural and political distinction, rather than a physiographic one, thus leading to various perspectives about Europes precise borders. ... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

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. The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is an American political think tank, based in Washington, DC. The controversial group was established in early 1997 as a non-profit organization with the goal of promoting American global leadership. ... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic: ), (born April 28, 1937 ), was the President of Iraq from 1979 until the United States-led invasion of Iraq reached Baghdad on April 9, 2003. ... A weapon of mass destruction or (WMD) is a term used to describe munitions with the capacity to indiscriminately kill large numbers of human beings. ...

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. Map The U.S. presidential election of 2000 took place on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American businessman and politician, was elected in 2000 as the 43rd President of the United States of America, re-elected in 2004, and is currently serving his second term in that office. ... Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is the 66th and current United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W. Bush. ... The Vulcan statue in Birmingham. ...

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. Seal of the U.S. Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American businessman and politician, was elected in 2000 as the 43rd President of the United States of America, re-elected in 2004, and is currently serving his second term in that office. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert B. Zoellick Robert Bruce Zoellick (born July 25, 1953) is the current United States Deputy Secretary of State. ...

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. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) serves as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which is part of the United States Intelligence Community. ... The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is the United States government official subject to the authority, direction and control of the President of the United States who is responsible under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 for: Serving as the principal adviser to the President of the... Seal of the United States Department of Defense The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense, concerned with the armed services and The Secretary is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate, and is a member of the Cabinet. ...

On May 10, 2006, Armitage was elected to the board of directors of the ConocoPhillips oil company. May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is an international energy company with its headquarters located in Houston. ...

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] The Plame Affair is the allegation that one or more government officials revealed Valerie Plame Wilson’s employment with the CIA which was classified at the time. ... Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Bob Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is one of the best-known journalists in the United States, thanks largely to his work in helping uncover the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixons resignation, in a historical journalistic partnership with Carl Bernstein, while working... ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Valerie and Joseph Valerie Elise Plame Wilson[1] (born April 19, 1963 in Anchorage, Alaska) was a United States Central Intelligence Agency officer, who was identified as a CIA operative in a newspaper column by Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. ... American actress Demi Moore, on a typical Vanity Fair cover (August, 1991) Vanity Fair is a glossy American glamour magazine monthly that offers a mixture of articles based on sensational exaggerations, jet-set and entertainment-business personalities, politics, and lies. ... Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (born August 26, 1921) is the vice president of the Washington Post. ...

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] March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... It has been suggested that Online diary be merged into this article or section. ...

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] August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Associated Press logo Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ...

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 "primary" source for Robert Novak's piece outing Plame; Armitage apparently mentioned Ms. Wilson's CIA role to Novak in a July 8, 2003 interview.[4] Isikoff also reported that Armitage had also told Bob Woodward of Plame's identity in June 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." The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ... Michael Isikoff is an investigative journalist for the US-based magazine Newsweek. ... Patrick J. Fitzgerald Patrick J. Fitzgerald, JD (born December 22, 1960) is an American attorney and the current U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. ...

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] Meet the Press (MTP) is a weekly television news show produced by NBC. It started as a radio show in 1945 as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, originating from WRC-AM in Washington. ...

Armitage has also reportedly been a cooperative and key witness in the investigation.^[1] According to The Washington Note, Armitage has testified before the grand jury three times.[6]

On August 29, 2006 Neil A. Lewis of The New York Times reported that Armitage was the "initial and primary source" for columnist Robert Novak's July 14, 2003 article, which named Valerie Plame as a CIA "operative" and which triggered the CIA leak investigation.[7] On August 30th 2006, CNN reported that Armitage had been confirmed "by sources" as leaking Ms. Wilson's CIA role in a "casual conversation" with Robert Novak. [8] The New York Times, quoting people "familiar with his actions," reported that Armitage was unaware of Ms. Wilson's undercover status when he spoke to Novak.[9] Robert David Sanders Novak (born February 26, 1931) is a Political Commentator and political figure. ... Robert David Sanders Novak (born February 26, 1931) is a Political Commentator and political figure. ...

The Times claims that White House counsel Alberto Gonzales was informed that Armitage was involved on October 2, 2003, but asked not to be told details. Patrick Fitzgerald began his grand jury investigation three months later knowing Armitage was a leaker (as did Attorney General John Ashcroft before turning over the investigation). According to lawyers close to I. Lewis Libby, charged in October 2005 with perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak investigation, "the information about Mr. Armitage’s role may help Mr. Libby convince a jury that his actions were relatively inconsequential".[10] Fitzgerald has issued no statement about Armitage's involvement, and as of August 2006, the CIA leak investigation remains open. Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is the 80th and current Attorney General of the United States, becoming the first Hispanic to serve in the position. ... John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) was the 79th Attorney General of the United States. ... I. Lewis Scooter Libby, Jr. ...

On September 7th Armitage admitted to being the source in the CIA leak. [11] Armitage claims that Fitzgerald had originally asked him not to discuss publicly his role in the matter, but that on September 5 Armitage asked Fitzgerald if he could reveal his role to the public, and Fitzgerald consented. [12]

Private life

Armitage and his wife, Laura Samford Armitage, have eight children. Elizabeth, Andrew, Lee, Jennifer, Paul, Christopher, Alice and Greg. Many of their children are adopted, and they have also provided a home for more than 50 foster children, many with special needs. They married on April 15, 1968.

Trivia

• Armitage is fluent in Vietnamese and versed in many other languages.
• He is an active powerlifter.
• He loves to play basketball.
• Armitage received an honorary knighthood from the United Kingdom in December, 2005.

The bench press is one of the three events of powerlifting. ...

External links

• Richard Armitage's Federal Campaign Contribution Report newsmeat.com
• Richard Armitage: the Combatant Who Dreamed of Diplomacy Voltaire Network, October 8, 2004
• [13] Elected to board of directors of ConocoPhillips
• Richard Armitage Admits to Name-Dropping Incident at Legal News TV

References

1. ^ Bazinet, Kenneth and Meek, James Gordon. "Ex-deputy secretary of state new figure in CIA leak probe", New York Daily News, May 20, 2006.