People in the news

Richard J. Danzig

National Semiconductor Corporation, board member (since 2001)

(Bill O'Leary/TWP)

Why He Matters

Danzig hates wasting time. The former Navy Secretary is known to study Power Point slides in advance of a presentation, so he can skip the sound bites and move right to questions. "The scarcest commodity is time," Danzig told The Washington Post, "and time together is too valuable to be used for anything except discussion."

The Rhodes scholar and Yale Law graduate combines a lawyer's mind with an intimate understanding of how the Pentagon functions. He served in top Defense positions under President Jimmy Carter and President Bill Clinton, who named him Navy secretary in 1998.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Member of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team (2008 to Jan. 2009); Foreign policy adviser, Barack Obama's 2008 campaign (2006 to 2008); Executive director, Human Genome Sciences Corporation (2006 to 2008)
Birthday: Sept. 18, 1944

Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Alma mater: B.A.,Reed College; J.D., Yale Law School; Ph.D,Oxford University

Path to Power

Danzig was born in New York City on Sept. 8, 1944, and graduated from Bronx High School.

He received his undergraduate degree from Reed College in Portland, Ore., then moved to England to study philosophy as a Rhodes scholar. He eventually earned his doctorate from Oxford University.

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Danzig was drafted for the Vietnam War in 1968, but was rejected because he suffers from Crohn's disease, a chronic intestinal problem.

He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1972. After graduation, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Byron White.

Danzig taught contract law at Stanford and Harvard universities until 1977, when he was named deputy assistant secretary of defense by Carter Defense Secretary Harold Brown. In that position, he spearheaded an effort to improve the U.S. Armed Services' ability to mobilize troops for deployment abroad.

He returned to law in 1981, this time as a partner at Latham & Watkins, a D.C. firm where he chaired the international practice group.

President Clinton appointed Danzig undersecretary of the Navy in 1993, in part because he played a key role in resolving the 1992 cheating scandal at the United State Naval Academy. In 1991, 134 members of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., were accused of cheating on an electrical engineering exam. Twenty-two students were eventually expelled.

In 1998, Clinton appointed Danzig Navy secretary. In that position, he pushed for a stronger relationship between the Navy and Marine Corps, more up-to-date technology and better coordination between land and sea forces.

Danzig also lobbied to ensure that sailors and Marines were respected as skilled workers from their first days on duty. In one small gesture, he replaced sailors' foam bedding with new spring mattresses, a relatively cheap improvement that greatly improved quality of life.

"Why, when a new sailor graduates from his professional school, do we send him to a ship and say, 'Congratulations on your graduation, now you're going to chip paint or cook food'?" he told the Washington Post. "Imagine if I had somebody working at Microsoft and told him that he could work for me doing software programming but then said, 'Congratulations, welcome to Microsoft, for the first three months you'll cook.' It doesn't make a lot of sense in today's world."

His most controversial (and ultimately unsuccessful) fight was an effort to allow women to serve on nuclear-powered submarines in the Navy.

Danzig stepped down as Navy secretary in 2001, but has continued to serve as a consultant for the Defense Department on biological warfare. He is also a fellow at the Center for a New American Security and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, two well-respected foreign policy think tanks in the nation's capital.

He also runs the Human Genome Sciences Corporation and the National Semiconductor Corporation.

On the 2008 presidential campaign, Danzig helped shape policy and develop daily talking points as one of Obama's top national security advisers.

He was also a head cheerleader in selling relative newcomer, Obama, to some Democrats skeptical of the first-term Senator's foreign policy credentials. At the Democratic National Convention, he met with dozens of foreign policy heavyweights in an effort to convince them that Obama had the judgment to lead.

Danzig is a member of the president's national security transition team and is being considered for a senior Defense Department post. Some news outlets even report that Obama has promised Danzig the job of Defense secretary once current secretary and Bush holdover Robert Gates steps down.

The Issues

Danzig is a progressive pragmatist. He emphasizes the importance of using soft power diplomacy and economic aid to promote U.S. interests abroad.

In his book The Big Three: Our Greatest Security Risks and How to Address Them, Danzig outlines the biggest problems he thinks the U.S. will face over the next decades: renewed competition from a major military adversary, erosion of international support for American policies and terrorist attacks of increasing sophistication.

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Danzig is known for his occasionally outlandish metaphors - he recently told a group of experts that Winnie-the-Pooh was a "fundamental text on national security" because it encouraged thinking about things in a different way. He also led a discussion series at the Center for a New American Security on lessons in leadership - from poetry.

Afghanistan

Danzig would like to see an increase in the number of troops currently serving in Afghanistan. However, he warns that winning the war will require the U.S. to look beyond its military strength to focus on building infrastructure and education systems. He told the New York Times "there are opportunities to use capabilities besides military power in Afghanistan that have been underdeveloped in the administration policy up until now."

Iraq

Danzig has called for a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months. He says the problems in the country are now "centrally political" and has urged American officials to teach Iraqis how to handle security problems themselves.

Defense Department

Danzig has derided the structure of the U.S. military as a "communist system," charging that the top-down command structure and the proliferation of five-year plans have hurt the Pentagon's ability to respond nimbly and effectively to modern challenges. Instead, he said the Defense Department should operate like a jazz band in which the leader sets the direction and other members improvise.

Danzig would like to increase the number of women and minorities in the Armed Forces, which he described as a "white male bastion." Though his language is controversial, supporters say he has mastered the art of provoking thought without insulting. However, this style has its critics, who charged that he is all talk and no action.

National Service

Danzig would like to see increase the number of Americans participating in national service under the Obama administration. He has called for an increase in the number of Foreign Service members.

Russia

Danzig is critical of Russia's isolationist tendencies and aggressive behavior. However, he believes that the U.S. must not use "inflammatory rhetoric" In its dealings with the country. Instead, he calls for an international effort to force Russia to tone down its aggressive behavior while maintaining the country's participation in the G8 and NATO.

The Network

Danzig is connected to many foreign policy and military experts. He and former Carter Defense Secretary Harold Brown served in the Defense Department together. Retired Marine Gen. Richard Hearney and Retired Vice Admiral John Natham also worked closely with Danzig while he was Navy secretary. They have both endorsed Obama and may serve as advisers to his administration.

Danzig worked closely with Anthony Lake, Greg Craig and Susan Rice during Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

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Additional Resources

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/richard_danzig/index.html?scp=1&sq=%22richard%20danzig%22&st=cse
National News Briefs: Nominee is Confirmed as Secretary of the Navy. New York Times, Sept. 27, 1998. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E5DA1339F934A1575AC0A96E958260
Bumiller, Elisabeth. Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign Policy. New York Times, July 18, 2008.
Kristol, William. Obama's Pooh-bah: A childish foreign policy. The Weekly Standard, June 20, 2008.
Ricks, Tom. Churning the Waters. The Washington Post, Sept. 9, 2000.
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Three-Greatest-Security-Address/dp/1410208966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228340669&sr=8-1
Smith, Ben, "Danzig Staying Out," Politico, Feb. 6, 2009
Ricks, Tom. Churning the Waters. Washington Post, Sept. 9, 2000.
Myers. Steven. New Debate on Submarine Duty for Women. New York Times, Sept. 15, 1999. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E1D9123DF936A25752C1A96F958260
Graham-Silverman, Adam, Rogin, Josh. Obama Mulls Plan to Keep Gates at Pentagon. Congressional Quarterly Today, Nov. 11, 2008.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/people/secnav/danzig/danzigbi.html
Kushner, Adam. Richard Danzig: How Obama Would Handle Putin. Newsweek, Sept. 8, 2008.