Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff (born
November 28,
1953) is the current United States
Secretary of Homeland Security.
He previously served as a judge on the
United States Court of Appeals, as a federal prosecutor, and as
assistant U.S. Attorney General. He was nominated to succeed
Tom Ridge as Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security by
President George W. Bush on
January 11,
2005 . His nomination was confirmed by the
U.S. Senate on
February 15,
2005, in a unanimous 98-0 vote, and Chertoff was sworn into office the same day (although a ceremonial swearing-in presided over by Bush took place on
March 3).
Chertoff is married to Meryl Justin. They have two children and live in
Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Chertoff was born in
Elizabeth, New Jersey, the son of
Rabbi Gershon Baruch Chertoff, the former leader of the B'nai Israel Congregation in Elizabeth, and
El Al Israel Airlines first flight attendant
Livia Chertoff, nee Eisen. His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Paul Chertoff, emigrated from Russia. His grandfather was a noted Talmudic scholar. Michael Chertoff is a citizen of the United States. Israeli law considers him a citizen of Israel as well, because his mother held that status.
Chertoff went to
The Pingry School for high school. He later attended
Harvard University, graduating in 1975. He then graduated
magna cum laude from
Harvard Law School in 1978, going on to clerk for appellate judge
Murray Gurfein for a year before clerking for
United States Supreme Court justice
William Brennan from 1979 to 1980. He worked in private practice with
Latham & Watkins from 1980 to 1983 before being hired as a prosecutor by
Rudolph Giuliani, then the U.S. attorney for
Manhattan, working on
mafia and
political corruption-related cases. In the mid 1990s, Chertoff returned to Latham & Watkins for a brief period, founding the firm's office in
Newark, New Jersey.
He was appointed by President
George H. W. Bush in 1990 as
United States Attorney for the state in 1990. Chertoff was asked to stay in his position when the Clinton administration took office in 1993, at the request of Democratic Senator
Bill Bradley; he was the only U.S. attorney not replaced. Chertoff stayed with the U.S. Attorney's office until 1994, when he entered private practice, returning to
Latham & Watkins as a partner.
Despite his friendly relationship with some Democrats, during the
Whitewater scandal investigation of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Chertoff was special counsel for the
Senate committee studying allegations against the Clintons. When Chertoff faced Senate confirmation in 2003 for a federal judgeship,
Hillary Rodham Clinton, then a Senator from
New York, cast the lone dissenting vote against Chertoff's confirmation. She explained that her vote was in protest of the way junior
White House staffers were "very badly treated" by Chertoff's staff during the Whitewater investigation.
Chertoff is the co-author, along with
Viet Dinh, of the
USA PATRIOT Act, signed into law October 26, 2001. As head of the Justice Department's criminal division, he advised the Central Intelligence Agency on the outer limits of legality in coercive interrogation sessions.
In 2000, Chertoff worked as special counsel to the
New Jersey State Senate Judiciary Committee, investigating
racial profiling in New Jersey. He also did some fundraising for
George W. Bush and other Republicans during the 2000 election cycle and advised Bush's presidential campaign on criminal justice issues. From 2001 to 2003, he headed the criminal division of the
Department of Justice, leading the prosecution's case against terrorist suspect
Zacarias Moussaoui and against accounting firm
Arthur Andersen for destroying documents relating to the
Enron collapse. His prosecution of Arthur Andersen was controversial, resulting in the collapse of the firm and the loss of employment by its 26,000 employees. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction and the case has not been retried. At the DOJ, he also came under fire as one of the chief architects of the Bush Administration's legal strategies in the
War on Terror, particularly regarding the detainment of thousands of Middle Eastern immigrants. Chertoff was appointed to the
Third Circuit Court of Appeals in
Philadelphia by Bush on
March 5,
2003, and was confirmed by the Senate 88-1 on
June 9.
In late 2004, after the controversial
Bernard Kerik was forced to decline President Bush's offer to replace the outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security
Tom Ridge, a lengthy search ensued to find a suitable replacement. Citing his experience with post-9/11 terror legislation, Bush nominated Chertoff to the post in January 2005. He was unanimously approved for the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security by the Senate on
February 15,
2005.
Most recently Chertoff has managed the
FEMA response to
Hurricane Katrina. On the third of September, several days after the initial strike of the hurricane many (including the New Orleans mayor,
Ray Nagin) indicated severe dissatisfaction with the response from Washington, citing the delay between the general knowledge of the storm's likely impact and any effective federal response.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency on August 26 [
1]; a week later, New Orleans remained in a state of chaos.
Chertoff himself appeared misinformed about the situation, even calling the situation at the Convention Center "rumors", after it had been in the news most of the day. While defending the federal government's response in a September 3, 2005 press conference, Chertoff asserted that no one had ever predicted a disaster of this magnitude; however, warnings had in fact come for years from experts in the private sector as well as government agencies at all levels, including FEMA itself, who had identified a disaster such as this as one of the three most likely catastrophes to strike the US. CNN: [
2] Houston Chronicle: [
3].
Official
*
Department of Homeland Security biography*
Department of Justice resumeNomination
*
President Nominates Michael Chertoff as Secretary of Homeland Security transcript*
Bush names new US security chief*
A rabbi's son with sense of balance nominated to head Homeland Security*
Homeland Security by the ColorsHurricane Katrina
*
Chertoff delayed federal response, memo shows (from Knight-Ridder)
*
Memo from Chertoff to other federal agencies issued on August 30*
U.S. Aid Effort Criticized in New Orleans*
Looting, Snipers Mar New Orleans EvacuationOther news reports
*
Chertoff: 'Let's Not Let Them Get Johnnie Cochran on the Phone'*
Michael Chertoff: Ashcroft's Top Gremlin*
Chertoff and Torture*
Robert Novak: Unyielding Chertoff*
Michael Chertoff and the sabotage of the Ptech investigation*
Michael Chertoff's Profile in BBC*
Security Nominee Gave Advice to the C.I.A. on Torture Laws*
Michael Chertoff's history of political donations*
Michael Chertoff: Defender of Terror by Sander Hicks*
Did Chertoff Shield Terror Ring in New Jersey?*
Michael Chertoff, Master of the Cover-up
