Bobby Ray Inman
| Bobby Ray Inman | |
|---|---|
 Inman's official CIA photo, 1983 |
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| Born | April 4, 1931 Rhonesboro, Texas |
| Years of service | 1951 - 1982 |
| Rank | Admiral |
Bobby Ray Inman (born April 4, 1931) is a retired United States admiral who held several influential positions in the U.S. Intelligence community.
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[edit] Career
He served as Director of Naval Intelligence from September 1974 to July 1976, then moved to the Defense Intelligence Agency where he served as Vice Director until 1977. He next became the Director of the National Security Agency. Inman held this post until 1981. His last major position was as the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, a post he held from February 12, 1981 to June 10, 1982.
Inman has been influential in various advisory roles. Notably, he chaired a commission on improving security at U.S. foreign installations after the Marine barracks bombing and the April 1983 US Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. The commission's report has been influential in setting security design standards for U.S. Embassies.
After retirement from the Navy, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) in Austin, Texas for four years and Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westmark Systems, Inc., a privately owned electronics industry holding company for three years. Admiral Inman also served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 1987 through 1990.
Admiral Inman’s primary activity since 1990 has been investing in start-up technology companies, where he is a Managing Director of Gefinor Ventures and Limestone Ventures. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Massey Energy Company and of several privately held companies. He serves as a Trustee of the American Assembly and the California Institute of Technology. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
President Clinton nominated him as Secretary of Defense, but he withdrew his nomination (see below).
Inman also was on the board of SAIC.[1]
Since 2001, Inman has held the LBJ Centennial Chair in National Policy at The University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and in 2005 and again in 2009 was the school's interim dean.[2] Inman graduated from Texas with a bachelor's in history in 1950.
Inman has also served on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dell Computer, SBC Corporation (now AT&T) [3] and Massey Energy.
In 2011 he became head of the board of directors of Xe Services, formerly Erik Prince's Blackwater.[4]
[edit] Nomination for Secretary of Defense
Inman was announced as President Bill Clinton's choice to succeed Les Aspin as Secretary of Defense on December 16, 1993, initially receiving broad bipartisan support. He accepted the post at first, but withdrew his nomination during an unusual press conference on January 18, 1994 that shocked members of both major political parties.[5]
During the press conference, Inman made angry remarks about perceived mistreatment by New York Times columnist William Safire.[6] Safire wrote paragraphs on Inman's "anti-Israel bias shown", and ended in a four point list of other negative qualifications. Inman suggested that Safire had recruited Senator Bob Dole of Kansas to engage in a "vitriolic attack" on Inman, and also claimed that Dole and Senator Trent Lott were planning to "turn up the heat" on his nomination.
Dole's reaction was to state that "I have no idea what's gotten into Bobby Inman... Admiral Inman's letter doesn't make any sense to me." Lott appeared even more surprised, saying that "I am floored by [Inman's] bizarre press conference," while an unnamed White House aide added: "Most of us were glued to the tube, our mouths open in shock."[7]
[edit] Statements
In 2006, Inman criticized the Bush administration's use of warrantless domestic wiretaps, making him one of the highest-ranking former intelligence officials to criticize the program in public [8][9]
[edit] References
- ^ James Bamford, The Shadow Factory, Doubleday, 2008, p201
- ^ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Biography of Bobby R. Inman, retrieved 2007 October 16.
- ^ Pletz, John. "Michael Dell's view from the top", Austin American-Statesman, 2004 May 2.
- ^ Former Blackwater Security Firm Gets New Leaders in Image Makeover By Justin Fishel March 09, 2011, foxnews.com
- ^ Bobby Inman Withdrawal Press Conference
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/23/opinion/essay-cold-comfort-level.html?scp=19&sq=Safire%20Inmam&st=cse William Safiure column on December 23, 1993
- ^ Adm. Inman Asks Clinton To Withdraw Nomination - The Tech
- ^ Shachtman, Noah. "Ex-NSA Chief Assails Bush Taps", Wired News, 2006 May 9.
- ^ "Ex-NSA Head Bobby R. Inman on the National Security Agency’s Domestic Surveillance Program: “This Activity Was Not Authorized", www.democracynow.org, 2006 May 17.
[edit] External links
| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by Lew Allen, Jr. |
Director of the National Security Agency 1977 – 1981 |
Succeeded by Lincoln D. Faurer |
| Preceded by Frank Charles Carlucci III |
CIA Deputy Director 1981 – 1982 |
Succeeded by John N. McMahon |
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