Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel (born 4 October 1946) was the Secretary of Defense of the United States from 27 February 2013 to 12 February 2015, succeeding Leon Panetta and preceding Ashton Carter. He was also a member of the US Senate from Nebraska (R) from 3 January 1997 to 3 January 2009, succeeding James Exon and preceding Mike Johanns.
Biography[]
Hagel was born in North Platte, Nebraska, in the United States in 1946, a baby boomer. Hagel was of German, Polish, and Irish ancestry. Hagel joined the US Army in 1967 voluntarily, although the draft board recommended that he go to college first, and Hagel and his brother served in the same unit during the Vietnam War. He was given two Purple Hearts in addition to several other medals, and as a decorated war hero was chosen as the assistant to Robert P. Nimmo, administrator of the Veteran's Administration, by President Ronald Reagan after he assisted in his 1980 campaign. He resigned in 1982 after Nimmo made hateful comments against veterans, and he opened his own phone company, winning him millions of dollars. In 1997 he was elected a senator for Nebraska, the first member of the Republican Party to have the post in 24 years. He held the post until 2009, and in 2013 he was made the new Secretary of Defense after Leon Panetta stepped down. Under President Barack Obama, he faced job stress, as his nomination as Secretary of Defense was controversial because he was a republican. Hagel had to deal with the Ukrainian Civil War's before-and-during, as he warned President Viktor Yanukovych not to use the Ukrainian Army against civilians - that practice led to the Euromaidan revolution. Afterwards, he called Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu, who assured him that the Russian Army would not invade Ukraine. During his tenure, he also had to face the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (which was taking part in the Syrian Civil War and Iraqi Civil War), the Syrian Arab Republic (which used chemical weapons and Russian aid against their own civilians), and other pressing issues with the army. He resigned in late 2014, citing job stress and decisions on the Islamic State, and Ashton Carter was accepted as Secretary of Defense on 12 February 2015.