Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan Is Now In Charge At The Pentagon

Trump meets with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan (right) in July.Leah Millis / Reuters

Uri Friedman, The Atlantic: America, Meet Your (Acting) Secretary of Defense

With no military experience and just a year and a half in government, the former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan has yet to develop a foreign-policy vision of his own.

It hasn’t received much attention, what with Donald Trump suddenly declaring victory against ISIS, ordering U.S. troops out of Syria, and provoking James Mattis to resign in protest.

But the man who is now the president’s principal adviser on the nation’s defense, tasked with leading the largest employer in the world and managing the fallout from Trump’s military retrenchment, has less experience in government (a year and a half) or the military (none) than any defense secretary since an oil magnate served as the acting head of the Pentagon for several weeks during Watergate 45 years ago.

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WNU Editor: Acting Defense

Secretary Patrick Shanahan is no James Mattis, but I am sure that he is going to do a competent job.

More News On Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan

New acting Defense secretary on first day: I look forward to carrying out Trump's vision at Pentagon -- The Hill
Acting Pentagon Chief Says He’ll Carry Out Trump’s Vision for the Military -- The Wall Street Journal
Trump's new acting Pentagon replacement for Mattis hails 'greatness of our nation' and name-checks commander in chief twice in statement hours after handoff -- Daily Mail
New Acting SecDef Shanahan Pledges to Carry Out Trump's Policy Agenda -- Military.com
Acting SECDEF Shanahan’s First Message to the Pentagon -- USNI News
Shanahan begins as Pentagon 'CEO': 'Doesn't have the moral and ethical constraints that Mattis has' -- Washington Times
Enter Patrick Shanahan: The Pentagon 'remains focused on safeguarding our nation' -- Washington Examiner