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About the Institute:
Leon E. Panetta, Institute Co-founder
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The Panetta Institute and its annual lecture series were the inspiration of former congressman and White House chief of staff Leon E. Panetta, who recently returned to full-time government service as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
A Monterey native and Santa Clara Law School graduate, Leon began his long and distinguished public service career in 1964 as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and upon discharge he went to work in Washington as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senate minority whip Tom Kuchel of California. In 1969 he was appointed director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, where he was responsible for enforcing equal education laws, and he later served briefly as executive assistant to the mayor of New York City. He then returned to Monterey, where he practiced law until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976.
Serving his Central Coast district in Congress for sixteen years, Leon was a key participant in agriculture, healthcare and federal budget issues, and from 1989 to 1993 he chaired the House Budget Committee. He authored a wide range of legislation, including the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988, Medicare and Medicaid coverage of hospice care for the terminally ill, and numerous measures to protect the California coast, including creation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
In 1993 he left Congress to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget for the incoming Clinton administration. There he was instrumental in developing the policies that led to a balanced federal budget and eventual budget surpluses. In 1994 he accepted appointment as the President’s chief of staff, and over the next three years brought order and focus to White House operations and policy making.
Upon leaving the Clinton administration, Leon joined with his wife, Sylvia, to establish and co-direct the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay. The nonpartisan, not-for-profit study center seeks to attract thoughtful young men and women to lives of public service and prepare them for the policy challenges of the future.
Over the years Leon has also served on numerous boards and commissions. He co-chaired California Forward, the Pew Oceans Commission and Governor Schwarzenegger’s Council on Base Support and Retention; and in 2006 he served on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan national commission seeking a new course for the war in Iraq. In January 2009 he accepted President Obama’s request to return to Washington as director of the CIA.
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