Home > Richard Armitage

He signed "The Project for the New American Century" letter (PNAC Letter) to President Bill Clinton in 1998. The letter outlined targeting the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power in Iraq due to the possibility that it might create weapons of mass destruction. The letter's intended purpose of removing Hussein was to not only protect Israel and other oil rich Arab countries but also to secure the world's second largest reserves of oil.

Armitage graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1967. Upon graduation, he joined the United States Navy, initially holding the rank of ensign. He served on a destroyer stationed in VietnamThe Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a country in Southeast Asia. It borders China, Laos, Cambodia, and the Gulf of Tonkin. Cng Hoa Xa Hi Ch Nghia Vit Nam ( In Detail) (Full size) National motto: Dc lp, t do, hnh phuc (Independence, Liberty, Happiness Off during the Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a war fought between 1957 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos See Secret War) and in bombing runs ( Rolling Thunder) over North Vietnam. See also the timeline of the Vietnam War. Fighting on. In 1973Events January events January 1 United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community now known as the European Union January 3 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led, Armitage left active duty and joined the office of the U.S. Defense Attache in Saigon.

After leaving Saigon in May of 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i, Armitage came to Washington, DCWashington, DC officially the District of Columbia (also known as DC Washington and, historically, the Federal City is the capital city and administrative district of the United States of America. Residents of the city and its surrounding suburbs refer to to serve as a consultantA consultant is a professional that provides expert advice in a particular domain or area of expertise such as accountancy, information technology, the law, human resources, marketing, medicine, finance or more esoteric areas of knowledge, for example eng for the United States Department of Defense. However, he was immediately shipped overseas again, and served in TehranCapitals in Asia Tehran (also spelled Teheran ( or in Persian), population 11,050,000 ( metropolitan: 15,000,000), is the capital of Iran. More than half of the country's industry is based there. Industries include manufacturing cars, electronic and elect, Iran until November of 1976. Following this posting, he returned to the United States and worked in the private sector for two years. In 1978, he began work as an aide to Senator Bob Dole, and in late 1980 served as a foreign policy advisor to President-elect Ronald Reagan.

Following this role, Armitage was made a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, a very high-ranking post in The Pentagon. He served in this position from 1981 to 1983. In June of 1983, he was promoted to Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security. While there, he represented the Department of Defense in developing politico-military relationships and initiatives throughout the world, spearheaded U.S. Pacific security policy including the U.S.- Japan and U.S.-China security relationships, managed all Defense Department security assistance programs, and provided oversight of policies related to the law of the sea, U.S. special operations, and counter-terrorism. He played a leading role in Middle East Security Policies.

Armitage left this post in 1989 to serve as a special negotiator for the President on military bases in the Philippines, and as a mediator on water issues in the Middle East. In 1991, he was appointed a special emissary to King Hussein of Jordan. Following this, he was sent to Europe with the title of ambassador; his assignment was to direct U.S. foreign aid to the states that had been formed out of the fallen Soviet Union. He served here until 1993, at which point he entered the private sector.

The United States Senate confirmed him as Deputy Secretary of State on March 23, 2001; he was sworn in on March 26 of the same year. A close associate of Secretary of State Colin Powell, Armitage was regarded, along with Powell, as a moderate within the presidential administration of George W. Bush. Armitage tendered his resignation on November 16, 2004, the day after Powell stepped down as Secretary of State.

Along with English, Armitage is fluent in Vietnamese. He is also an active bodybuilder.