Richard Armitage (government official)

Richard Armitage
13th United States Deputy Secretary of State
In office
March 26, 2001 – February 23, 2005
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byStrobe Talbott
Succeeded byRobert Zoellick
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
In office
April 2, 1983 – June 5, 1989
Acting: April 2, 1983 – June 5, 1983
PresidentRonald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Preceded byBing West
Succeeded byHarry Rowen
Personal details
Born
Richard Lee Armitage

(1945-04-26) April 26, 1945 (age 79)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLaura Samford
Children8
RelativesIain Armitage (grandson), Euan Morton (son-in-law)
EducationUnited States Naval Academy (BS)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1967–1973
RankLieutenant
Battles/warsVietnam War

Richard Lee Armitage (born April 26, 1945) is an American former diplomat and government official. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Armitage served as a U.S. Navy officer in three combat tours of duty in the Vietnam War as a riverine warfare advisor. After leaving active duty, he served in a number of civil-service roles under Republican administrations. He worked as an aide to Senator Bob Dole before serving in various posts in the Defense Department and State Department.[1]

During the Reagan administration, Armitage was deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and Pacific affairs (1981–1983) and assistant secretary of defense for International security affairs (1983–1989). He served in the George H. W. Bush administration in various diplomatic posts, including presidential special negotiator for the Philippines Military Bases Agreement, special mediator for water in the Middle East, special emissary to King Hussein of Jordan during the Persian Gulf War, and director of U.S. aid to the post-Soviet states.[1] He then worked in the private sector before joining the George W. Bush administration as deputy secretary of state,[1] holding the post from March 2001 to February 2005.[2]

Armitage's tenure at the State Department under Secretary Colin Powell became overshadowed by the Plame affair. Armitage acknowledged in 2006 that he leaked Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a CIA operative to columnist Robert Novak, who revealed her identity in a July 2003 column; Armitage claimed that the leak was inadvertent, said that this was a "terrible error on my part," and issued an apology.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b c Remarks to the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations: Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State, Marc Susser, Historian of the State Department, Washington, DC, June 5, 2003.
  2. ^ Richard Lee Armitage (1945–), Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.
  3. ^ Smith, R. Jeffrey (8 September 2006). "Armitage Says He Was Source of CIA Leak". The Washington Post. p. A03.
  4. ^ David Johnston (7 September 2006). "Armitage Says He Was the Source in C.I.A. Leak". New York Times.

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