People in the news

Chuck Hagel

President of the Defense Policy Board (since July 2009)

(Alex Wong/
Getty Images)

Why He Matters

Hagel is a rough-and-tumble Vietnam veteran who has clashed repeatedly with his party over the war in Iraq. His willingness to lash President Bush's team has earned him a spot as head of the Defense Policy Board in President Barack Obama's administration.

Hagel's opposition to President Bush's war policies has earned him a reputation as a rebel Republican, though his votes on domestic issues have been reliably conservative throughout his two terms in the Senate.

Read more

Background

At a Glance

Career History: Atlantic Council Chairman (since Feb. 2009); U.S. Senator (1997 to 2008); President of McCarthy and Co. (1992 to 1996); President and CEO of the Private Sector Council in Washington ( 1990 to 1992); President and CEO of United Services Organizations (1987 to 1990)
Birthday: Oct. 4, 1946
Hometown: North Platte, Neb.
Alma Mater: University of Nebraska, B.A. (History), 1971
Spouse: Lilibet

Religion: Episcopalian
DC Office: 248 Russell Senate Office Building, 202-224-4224
Email
Web site

Path to Power

Hagel was born in North Platte, Neb., in 1946, to Charles and Betty Hagel and was the eldest of four sons. Hagel and his brothers - Tom, Mike and Jimmy - lived nomadic childhoods, as the family drifted from one Nebraska town to another while Charlie searched for work at lumberyards.

Charlie had served as a tail gunner on bombing raids in the South Pacific during World War II, and the experience affected him deeply. Alcohol became a constant battle in his life. As the eldest son, Chuck would often step in and protect his mother when Charlie was violently drunk.

Read more

On Christmas morning in 1962, Betty found Charlie dead in their bedroom, the victim of a brain aneurysm he had suffered overnight. Chuck was 16 at the time of his father's death and the sudden loss gave him a newfound sense of determination. "It influences you when you see your father cut down at age 39," he once recalled. "Whatever God-given talent I have, I don't want to squander."

Tragedy struck the Hagels again in 1969 when Chuck's youngest brother, Jimmy, died in an auto accident at age 16.

After graduating from Catholic High School, Hagel had trouble finding his way. He was awarded a football scholarship to Wayne State University, but lost it after he suffered a pinched neck injury that ended his playing days. He briefly attended the University of Kearney in Nebraska, and then tried broadcasting at a school in Minneapolis.

In 1967, the Army drafted Chuck and Tom. They shared a sense of patriotic duty instilled in them by their parents, and both volunteered to fight in Vietnam. Eventually, thanks to a turn of events that the brothers have never fully understood, Chuck and Tom ended up serving in the same combat unit in the Mekong Delta.

Tom ended up saving Chuck's life in March of 1968 after shrapnel from an explosive pierced his chest during a patrol. A few months later, Chuck would pull Tom, bleeding and unconscious, from the wreckage of an armored carrier during a firefight with the Viet Cong. Chuck's body was aflame during the rescue, and he suffered burns to his face that took a decade to heal. Tom survived and was awarded three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star; Chuck was given two Purple Hearts.

After the war Chuck enrolled at the University of Nebraska, where he graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in history. He was hired as an administrative assistant in the Washington office of Rep. John McCollister (R-Neb.), where served until the congressman lost his seat in 1977. Hagel then took a job lobbying for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, working in Washington as their manager of government affairs until 1980.

After serving on President Reagan's inaugural committee, Hagel was nominated and confirmed as deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. He resigned after one year in the job and used his life savings to get on the ground floor of the cell phone business. The company he founded, Vanguard Cellular Systems, was incredibly successful and made him a millionaire.

In 1992, Hagel moved with his family back to Nebraska and became president of McCarthy & Co., an Omaha-based investment bank, where he would work until his first Senate run in 1996.

U.S. Senate

Upon arriving in the Senate, Hagel requested a seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which at the time was not considered a desirable position.His gregarious manner and interest in foreign policy quickly attracted the attention of the press, and he became a regular on the Sunday talk-show circuit. As a freshman senator in 1998 Hagel challenged Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, but he was defeated by a vote of 39-13.

Hagel supported his friend and fellow Vietnam veteran Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he ran for president in 2000, acting as close adviser and co-chair of his campaign. After George W. Bush won the South Carolina Republican primary and effectively ended McCain's campaign, Hagel harshly criticized Bush, saying he had "sold his soul to the right wing" and run the "filthiest" campaign he'd ever seen. Despite those comments, Hagel was considered a top contender to be Bush's running mate, and he was vetted and interviewed for the position.

Hagel's differences with McCain came into sharp focus after the Sept. 11 attacks, and their friendship frayed over their disagreements on foreign policy. In 2008 Hagel was approached about an endorsement of McCain's second presidential bid, but he refused. "In good conscience, I could not enthusiastically - honestly - go out and endorse him and support him when we so fundamentally disagree on the future course of our foreign policy and our role in the world," Hagel told the New Yorker.

Hagel's wife, Lilibet, endorsed the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama and was a guest of Michelle Obama during a debate at Hofstra University. Hagel never publicly endorsed the Democrat, but there was talk after the election that Obama was considering Hagel for a cabinet position.

In July 2009, Hagel was named head of the Defense Policy Board by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. In that position, he and 11 other members will provide independent advice on defense policy. He replaces John Hamre.

The Issues

During his 1996 Senate run, Hagel campaigned as a small-government, anti-abortion rights social conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan. "We are taxed too high and regulated too heavily," he said at the time.

Despite his general adherence to conservative principles, Hagel has often opposed his party's legislative agenda. He voted against the No Child Left Behind bill in 2001 and the Medicare overhaul and prescription drug benefit, which he called "a sham and a rip-off for nearly everybody." More recently, and in a marked contrast with the rest of his Senate career, Hagel voted with his party only 78.5 percent of the time in the 110th Congress.

Read more

Iraq War

Hagel voted for the 2002 resolution that authorized the use of force in Iraq, a vote that he now regrets. Hagel is a strong believer in a multilateral, realist approach to foreign policy, and his criticisms of the Bush administration's war policies grew strident as the conflict dragged on. During the home stretch of the 2004 presidential campaign, Hagel lashed out at the administration in a Senate hearing, calling Bush's handling of the war "beyond pitiful," "embarrassing" and "in the zone of dangerous."

Hagel's definitive break with the Bush administration came in January 2007, when he was the only Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to support a resolution protesting the president's decision to send an additional 21,000 troops to Iraq, thereby registering his opposition to the "surge." During a hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Hagel said the president's plan represented "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam." In March 2007, Hagel was one of just two Senate Republicans to vote for a war-funding bill with a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. Shortly after that, in an interview with Esquire, Hagel went so far as to suggest that impeachment of President Bush might be an appropriate action for Congress to consider.

The Economy

As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Hagel was privy to the difficult negotiations over the $700 billion economic rescue package. At the time, he said the legislative action was necessary to stabilize the global financial markets and urged other lawmakers to support it.

In 2005, Hagel sponsored legislation with then-Sens. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.) that would have downsized the mortgage portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and increased government oversight. Former Senate Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) never let the bill come up for a vote, and it quietly died at the end of the 109th Congress.

After the government was forced to take over the mortgage giants in September 2007, The Associated Press discovered Freddie Mac had waged a $2 million lobbying campaign to kill the legislation Hagel had helped propose.

The Network

Hagel grew close to Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden (D-Del.) during their work together on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is also good friends with two other colleagues on the committee, fellow Vietnam veteran Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and former chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).

Hagel traveled with Barack Obama to Iraq and Afghanistan in July 2007, and the two seem to have developed a rapport.

Read more

Additional Resources