Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace

Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace

The inspiring and revelatory autobiography of the defense secretaryÂ and CIA director who led the intelligence war that killed Bin Laden,Â among many important roles in a legendary career

It could be said that Leon Panetta has had two ofÂ the most consequential careers of any AmericanÂ public servant in the past fifty years. His firstÂ career, beginning as an army intelligence officerÂ and including a distinguished run as one ofÂ Congressâ€™s most powerful and respected members,Â lasted thirty-five years and culminated in hisÂ transformational role as Clintonâ€™s budget czarÂ and White House chief of staff. He then â€œretiredâ€Â to establish the Panetta Institute with his wife ofÂ fifty years, Sylvia; to serve on the Iraq Study Group;Â and to protect his beloved California coastline. ButÂ in 2009, he accepted what many said was a thanklessÂ task: returning to public office as the director ofÂ the CIA, taking it from a state of turmoil after theÂ Bush-era torture debates and moving it back toÂ the vital center of Americaâ€™s war against Al Qaeda,Â including the campaign that led to the killing ofÂ Osama bin Laden. And then, in the wake of binÂ Ladenâ€™s death, Panetta became the U.S. secretaryÂ of defense, inheriting two troubled wars in a timeÂ of austerity and painful choices.

Like his career, Worthy Fights is a reflectionÂ of Panettaâ€™s values. It is imbued with the frank,Â grounded, and often quite funny spirit of a manÂ who never lost touch with where he came from:Â his familyâ€™s walnut farm in beautiful Carmel Valley,Â California. It is also a testament to a lost kind ofÂ political leadership, which favors progress and dutyÂ to country over partisanship. Panetta is a DemocratÂ who pushed for balanced budgets while alsoÂ expanding care for the elderly and sick; a devoutÂ Catholic who opposes the death penalty but hadÂ to weigh every drone strike from 2009 throughÂ 2011. Throughout his career, Panettaâ€™s polestar hasÂ been his belief that a public servantâ€™s real choice isÂ between leadership or crisis. Troubles always comeÂ about through no fault of oneâ€™s own, but most canÂ be prevented with courage and foresight.

As always, Panetta calls them as he sees themÂ in Worthy Fights. Suffused with its authorâ€™s decencyÂ and stubborn common sense, the book is an epicÂ American success story, a great political memoir,Â and a revelatory view onto many of the greatÂ figures and events of our time.
Country USA
Manufacturer Penguin Audio
Binding Audio CD
ReleaseDate 2014-10-07
UnitCount 16
Format Audiobook
EANs 9781611763201

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Penguin Audio
Binding	Audio CD
ReleaseDate	2014-10-07
UnitCount	16
Format	Audiobook
EANs	9781611763201

Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace

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