President George W. Bush Profession Lawyer Vice President Dick Cheney Religion Anglican | Preceded by Dan Stanley Name Robert Wilkie Political party Republican | |
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A message to VA’s workforce from Secretary Robert Wilkie
Robert Leon Wilkie is an American lawyer who serves as Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator Thom Tillis. He previously served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs and at engineering consultant CH2M Hill. An intelligence officer in the United States Naval Reserve, he was nominated for his Department of Defense position by U.S. President George W. Bush on June 20, 2006, and his appointment was approved by the Senate on September 30, 2006. He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and two children.
Contents
- A message to VAs workforce from Secretary Robert Wilkie
- Early life and education
- Government career
- References
Early life and education
Wilkie was born in Frankfurt West Germany, and attended Salisbury Cathedral School, England and Fayetteville North Carolina's Reid Ross Senior High School. As the son of an Army Artillery officer, he grew up in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He received his bachelor's degree from the Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He went on to receive his law degree from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans in 1988 and a Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
Government career
He began his professional career on Capitol Hill as Counsel to Jesse Helms, and later served as legislative director for Rep. David Funderburk of North Carolina. He was assigned to the Committee on International Relations and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In 1997, he began service as counsel and advisor on international security affairs to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
Prior to being named assistant secretary, Wilkie served as special assistant to the President for national security affairs and a senior director of the National Security Council where he was a senior policy advisor to then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as well as her successor, Stephen Hadley. Wilkie developed strategic planning for the implementation of the Moscow Treaty, the Millennium Challenge Account, Iraqi Reconstruction and NATO Expansion. In 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates awarded him the Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian award of the Department.
While serving as assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, Wilkie authored a memo outlining guidelines that restricted congressional testimony to high-ranking officers and civilians appointed by the president. Critics of the guidelines argued that they could impede investigations of the Iraq War, and that the Pentagon had no authority to set the rules.