2023 Awardee
The Hon. Leon E. Panetta
Former Secretary of Defense
The Honorable Leon E. Panetta received the William H. Webster Distinguished Service Award on November 1st, 2023.
Leon Edward Panetta served as the 23rd Secretary of Defense from July 2011 to February 2013. As Secretary, he led efforts to develop a new defense strategy, conduct critical counterterrorism operations, strengthen U.S. alliances, and open up military service opportunities to more Americans. Before joining the Department of Defense, Secretary Panetta served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from February 2009 to June 2011. During his tenure, he oversaw the operation to find and bring to justice international terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Secretary Panetta is the fifth recipient of the William H. Webster Distinguished Service Award, which was established to recognize extraordinary contributions by individuals in the Intelligence Community. Other recipients include President H. W. Bush (2017), Admiral William H. McRaven, USN (Ret.) (2018), Gen. Michael V. Hayden (Ret.) (2019), and The Honorable Susan M. Gordon (2021). The award is named in honor of one of the International Spy Museum’s inaugural champions and the only person ever to serve as both Director of the CIA and Director of the FBI. Judge William H. Webster began his extraordinary career in public service as a Federal Judge and then, under three Presidents, led organizations that set the boundaries of U.S. national and international security.
The 2023 honoree dedicated much of his life to public service. Before joining the CIA, Secretary Panetta spent ten years co-directing, with his wife, Sylvia, the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University in Monterey Bay. The Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to instill in young people the virtues and values of leadership in public policy.
“Throughout his remarkable career in public service, Secretary Panetta has lived the values of the Webster Award in an exceptional way,” said Spy Museum Executive Director Chris Costa. “His commitment to justice and opportunity for his fellow Americans and his tireless leadership to protect the lives and well-being of people around the world are without peer.”
A Monterey native and Santa Clara University School of Law graduate, Secretary Panetta began his long and distinguished career in public service in 1964 as a U.S. Army intelligence officer, receiving the Army Commendation Medal. 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 ensuring equal opportunity in public education, later serving as executive assistant to New York City Mayor John Lindsay. He then returned to Monterey, where he practiced law until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976. He served his Central Coast district in Congress for 16 years. From July 1994 to January 1997, Secretary Panetta served as chief of staff to President William Clinton. He also served as director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position that built on his years of work on the House Budget Committee.
Secretary Panetta has served on numerous boards and commissions. He co-chaired California Forward, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, and Governor Schwarzenegger’s Council on Base Support and Retention. In 2006, he served on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan national commission seeking a new course for the war in Iraq. He currently serves on the boards of Oracle and Blue Shield of California and is the co-chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Countering Violent Extremism. Secretary Panetta is the recipient of hundreds of awards and honors.