Each year the Panetta Institute hosts a highly acclaimed lecture series, bringing national leaders, journalists and policy experts to the Monterey Peninsula, where they not only address the series subscribers but meet with students from area high schools, colleges and military installations to address their questions and concerns.

In the spring of 2006, the Panetta Institute hosted the ninth annual Leon Panetta Lecture Series. The theme was “The Future of Democracy in the 21st Century.”  Featured speakers included national political commentators Paul Begala and Pat Buchanan, former Senator Jack Danforth, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former Senator Slade Gorton, national security expert Richard Haass, political commentator William Kristol, Congressman John Murtha, and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.