Skip navigation

NBC: Obama picks Panetta for CIA director

Leon Panetta was Bill Clinton's chief of staff and Iraq Study Group member

Video
  Panetta for CIA
Jan. 5: President-elect Obama has chosen former Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta to be his CIA director. NBC’s Chuck Todd reports.

MSNBC

Multimedia stories
Image: The White House Debuts The Obamas' New Dog Bo, A Portuguese Water Dog
Getty Images
  Who’s a good Bo?
See the Obama family’s frisky new Portuguese water dog pup, Bo, sink his paws into his classy new digs: the White House.
Pete Souza
  Inside Obama's White House
Get a glimpse of President Barack Obama's first 100 days, through the lens of photographer Pete Souza.
Image: Amy Carter goes to school
AP
  First sons and daughters
Under many administrations, the corridors of the White House have resounded with the patter of little feet.
Image: Michelle Obama
Pool via Getty Images
  Michelle Obama's effortless style
The first lady looks as sophisticated in designer dresses as she does in outfits from J. Crew.
Most popular video
  Reps. Cantor, Hoyer spar over health vote
Nov. 7: As President Obama heads to Capitol Hill to make a personal pitch for health care legislation, Reps. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., join NBC’s Amy Robach with their take on the status of the House bill.
  Doctor shares status of Ft. Hood victims
  Out of hospital, Ft. Hood hero ‘doing good’
  Suspect arrested in Fla. office shooting
  Were red flags about Ft. Hood suspect missed?
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
updated 3:03 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2009

NBC News has confirmed that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former Clinton White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to run the CIA.

Panetta was a surprise pick for the post, with no experience in the intelligence world. An Obama transition official and another Democrat disclosed his nomination on a condition of anonymity since it was not yet public.

Panetta was director of the Office of Management and Budget and a longtime congressman from California.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

He served on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel that released a report at the end of 2006 with dozens of recommendations for the reversing course in the Iraq war.

Panetta currently directs with his wife Sylvia the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay a university he helped establish on the site of the former U.S. Army base, Fort Ord.

Click for related content
First Read: Feinstein not told about CIA pick

NBC's Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie contributed to this story.

© 2009 msnbc.com

  MORE FROM WHITE HOUSE  
  
White House Section Front
 
Add White House headlines to your news reader:
 

Sponsored links

Resource guide