Martin Frost
American politician
David Petraeus, a retired U.S. Army general, served as the director of the CIA from 2011 to 2012. He had a distinguished military career, including commanding forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, his tenure as CIA director ended in controversy when he resigned due to an extramarital affair.
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About the David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus served 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander of the International Security Assistance Forceand commander, U.S. Forces – Afghanistanfrom July 4, 2010, to July 18, 2011. His other four-star assignments include serving as the 10th commander, U.S. Central Commandfrom October 13, 2008, to June 30, 2010, and as commanding general, Multi-National Force – Iraqfrom February 10, 2007, to September 16, 2008. As commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq.
Petraeus was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College class of 1983. He later served as assistant professor of international relations at the United States Military Academy and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University. Since 2022, he has taught courses in international relations at Yale University as a Kissinger Senior Fellow of the university’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.
Petraeus has repeatedly stated that he has no plans to run for elected political office. On June 23, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Petraeus to succeed General Stanley McChrystal as commanding general of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, technically a step down from his position as Commander of United States Central Command, which oversees the military efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt.
On June 30, 2011, Petraeus was unanimously confirmed as the director of the CIA by the U.S. Senate 94-0. Petraeus relinquished command of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on July 18, 2011, and retired from the U.S. Army on August 31, 2011. On November 9, 2012, he resigned from his position as director of the CIA, citing his extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, which was reportedly discovered in the course of an FBI investigation. In January 2015, officials reported the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors had recommended bringing felony charges against Petraeus for allegedly providing classified information to Broadwell while serving as director of the CIA. Eventually, Petraeus pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information. He was later sentenced to two years of probation and fined $100,000 for the unauthorized removal and retention of classified material he gave to Broadwell.
Frequently Asked Questions
David Petraeus served 37 years in the U.S. Army and held several high-ranking positions, including commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, commander of U.S. Central Command, and commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq.
David Petraeus resigned as director of the CIA in 2012 due to an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. The affair was reportedly discovered during an FBI investigation.
Petraeus was the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1983. He later served as an assistant professor of international relations at the United States Military Academy and completed a fellowship at Georgetown University. Since 2022, he has taught courses in international relations at Yale University.
In 2015, it was reported that the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors had recommended bringing felony charges against Petraeus for allegedly providing classified information to his biographer, Paula Broadwell, while he was the director of the CIA. Petraeus eventually pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information.
No, David Petraeus has repeatedly stated that he has no plans to run for elected political office.
After retiring from the U.S. Army, David Petraeus took on various civilian roles, including serving as the director of the CIA and teaching at Yale University as a Kissinger Senior Fellow.
5 Quotes by David Petraeus
- 1.
If you don’t want to have to kill or capture every bad guy in the country, you have to reintegrate those who are willing to be reconciled and become part of the solution instead of a continued part of the problem.
David PetraeusU.S. Army general and public official (born 1952)
- 2.
Well, the oil, the oil spot, if you will, is a, is a term in counterinsurgency literature that connotes a peaceful area, secure area. So what you’re trying to do is to always extend that, to push that out.
David PetraeusU.S. Army general and public official (born 1952)
- 3.
We’re here so that Afghanistan does not once again become a sanctuary for transnational extremists the way it was when al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks in the Kandahar area, conducted the initial training for the attackers in training camps in Afghanistan before they moved on to Germany and then to U.S. flight schools.
David PetraeusU.S. Army general and public official (born 1952)
- 4.
The progress in Iraq is still fragile. And it could still be reversed. Iraq still faces innumerable challenges, and they will be evident during what will likely be a difficult process as the newly elected Council of Representatives selects the next prime minister, president, and speaker of the council.
David PetraeusU.S. Army general and public official (born 1952)
- 5.
But clearly, this is what this is about. It’s about pushing the security bubble out. It’s about rooting out every last guy, so that there’s not even somebody who can fire a single, solitary RPG round from some little qalat out here.
David PetraeusU.S. Army general and public official (born 1952)