Obama Picks Bush Under Secretary as Director of Intelligence

June 4, 2010 by legitgov

Obama Picks Bush Under Secretary as Director of Intelligence 04 Jun 2010 President Obama has picked Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper Jr. to become the next director of national intelligence. Mr. Obama plans to announce his selection on Saturday, a senior official said. General Clapper would replace Adm. Dennis C. Blair, whom the president forced to resign last month. General Clapper, who retired after 32 years in the Air Force in 1995, was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007 as under secretary of defense for intelligence, overseeing the broad array of military intelligence assets. He was kept on when Mr. Obama assumed the presidency. He simultaneously serves as director of defense intelligence, reporting directly to the director of national intelligence, so he has direct familiarity with the office he would assume.