James R. Clapper

Why He Matters

From the attack on Pearl Harbor to 9/11, intelligence failures have been blamed for America’s most devastating defeats. Clapper, a retired Air Force lieutenant general now serving as under secretary of defense for intelligence, is among the government’s top intelligence officials charged with making sure such attacks remain history.

A holdover from the George W. Bush administration, Clapper was the principal adviser to both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Deputy Secretary William Lynn on intelligence and security matters from the start of the Obama administration. He played another important role in the intelligence community as director of defense intelligence under Adm. Dennis Blair, who was President Barack Obama’s director of national intelligence (DNI) until he resigned in May 2010. Clapper served as liason between the DNI, which he believes should be a robust office, and the Pentagon.

Shortly after Blair's resignation, the White House signaled it's intent to nominate Clapper to replace his old boss as DNI.

Established in 2005, Clapper’s Pentagon post, in which he oversaw all intelligence agencies within the Defense Department, was the newest of the department’s five under secretary positions. He was confirmed by the Senate in April 2007, then declared a keeper by President Obama in February 2009.

Clapper has been dubbed the “Godfather of Human Intelligence” Kruzel, John J., American Forces Press Service, “Top Intel Official Explains Pentagon’s New Vision,” May 25, 2007 for championing interpersonal means of gathering intelligence, in addition to more technical methods like satellite photography and signal interception. Known as HUMINT, human intelligence focuses on conversations and interrogations and can range from diplomacy to espionage.

But he also understands the limits of human power. "There's only one entity in the entire universe that has visibility on all SAPs [special access programs] - that's God," Clapper told The Washington Post.Priest, Dana and Arkin, William, "A Hidden World, Growing Beyond Control," The Washington Post, July 19, 2010

This focus fits in well with the wider counterinsurgency campaign being led in Afghanistan, where “the United States will win it on a village-by-village basis,” Clapper said, at The Washington Institute. Clapper explained that in addition to U.S. special forces taking out high-value targets, “the focus must also be on providing local security and the larger task of nation building.” Demirel, Merve, “Intelligence Transformation: Meeting New Challenges in the Middle East and Beyond,” The Washington Institute, May 21, 2009

Path to Power

Clapper has been devoted to the field of intelligence since launching his military career more than 45 years ago, attending the Air Force’s Signal Intelligence Officers Course after graduating from the University of Maryland in 1963 with a B.A. in political science.

In his early career he served two combat tours in the Southeast Asia conflict, working out of South Vietnam and Thailand and flying dozens of combat support missions over Laos and Cambodia. Clapper, James R., Air Force Bio

An avid student, he obtained a master’s in political science from St. Mary’s University in Texas in 1970. He has completed several programs and seminars through the National War College, Air War College and Harvard University, and eventually received an honorary doctorate in strategic intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College.Clapper, Defense Department bio

Clapper served in Korea in intelligence-related positions from 1985 to 1987, and was the assistant chief of staff for intelligence at Air Force headquarters in Washington during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early 1990s. By the time he retired from the military in 1995, he was the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a 32-year military veteran.

The Issues

Clapper has confronted many of the thorny problems that surged during the Bush administration’s handling of the “war on terror.”

Within two weeks of assuming his position at the Pentagon in 2005, he took steps to end the controversial Talon electronic data program that prompted worry about Big Brother-esque surveillance of U.S. government dissenters. The program, implemented in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, gathered and spread data about U.S. citizens and others deemed a potential threat to Defense Department facilities. The fact that this group included peaceful American demonstrators and activists hit a nerve among civil-rights groups, however, and Clapper promised that a replacement system would “lay to rest the distrust and concern about the department’s commitment to civil rights.” Pincus, Walter, The Washington Post, “Pentagon to End Talon Data-Gathering Program," April 25, 2007

Clapper called for more transparency from the beginning of his tenure, saying one of his projects would be to lift some veils of secrecy in the murky world of intelligence. “Particularly now,” he said in 2007, “it is incumbent on the intelligence community to make available as much information as we possibly can … so that the public knows what we’re up against.” Kruzel, John J., American Forces Press Service, “Top Intel Official Explains Pentagon’s New Vision,” May 25, 2007

The retired lieutenant general also embraced stricter oversight on treatment of terrorist detainees. A directive was issued in fall 2008 to require Pentagon monitoring of all interrogations, including those conducted by non-military agencies. Previously, under Bush Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the CIA and foreign officials could question Pentagon prisoners without official observation.Barnes, Julian E., Los Angeles Times, “Pentagon tightens rules on detainee interrogations,” Oct. 15, 2008. 

The Network

Clapper was chosen for his DoD post by Robert Gates, a fellow intelligence veteran who previously served as CIA director.

When first starting his under secretary job, Clapper was working among men who were colleagues for decades, including Adm. John Michael McConnell, the former director of national intelligence, and Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, former CIA director. “For intelligence,” he said at the time, “It’s really a golden opportunity given the assembly of the leaders…”Kruzel, John J., American Forces Press Service, “Top Intel Official Explains Pentagon’s New Vision,” May 25, 2007

Clapper also worked alongside former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore (R), as vice chairman of Gilmore’s commission on homeland security.

Campaign Contributions

After retiring from the military, Clapper made at least three campaign contributions: one of $250 to former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) in his 1996 bid for the presidency, and two more to former Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.). Support for Warner’s Senate career included $250 in 1996 and $1,000 in 2000. Warner, who retired in January 2009 after five Senate terms, was considered one of the Republican Party’s top experts on military affairs.