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Pres. Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defence
“But he will be treated fairly by Republicans in the Senate,” the Kentucky Republican told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Hagel has also been attacked by gay rights groups for remarks in 1998 questioning whether an “openly aggressively gay” nominee could be an effective U.S. ambassador. He apologized for the comments last month saying they were “insensitive.”
If confirmed, Hagel would become the first former enlisted soldier to lead the Pentagon. He served alongside his brother Tom in Vietnam, and they earned five Purple Hearts between them.
Last month Obama offered strong support for Hagel as a possible replacement for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who has said he wants to leave early in the second term. “I’ve served with Chuck Hagel. I know him. He is a patriot. He is somebody who has done extraordinary work both in the United States Senate, somebody who served this country with valor in Vietnam,” Obama told “Meet the Press” on December 30.
Obama and Hagel bonded over their shared opposition to the Iraq War. Obama rose to national prominence through his criticism of the war, while Hagel made himself an isolated figure in the Republican Party by taking a similar position. The pair traveled to Iraq together in 2008.
While Obama may hope that his choice of a Republican to lead the military would be seen as a gesture of bipartisanship, Hagel has been sharply critical of his own party since leaving the Senate in 2009. Last year, Hagel endorsed a Democratic candidate for the Senate in Nebraska.
In 2009, Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney told Newsweek: “Let’s say I believe firmly in Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican. But it’s very hard sometimes to adhere to that where Chuck Hagel is involved.”
