Bobby Ray Inman
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Bobby R. Inman (born April 4, 1931 in Rhonesboro, Texas) is a retired U.S. admiral who held several influential positions in the U.S. Intelligence community.

He served as Director of Naval Intelligence from September 1974 to July 1976, then moved to the Defense Intelligence Agency where he served as Vice Director until 1977. He next became the Director of the National Security Agency. Inman held this post until 1981. His last major position was as the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, a post he held from February 12, 1981 to June 10, 1982.

Inman was announced as President Bill Clinton's choice to succeed Les Aspin as Secretary of Defense on December 16, 1993, initially receiving broad bipartisan support. He accepted the post at first, but withdrew his nomination during an unusual press conference on January 18, 1994 that shocked members of both major political parties.

During the press conference, Inman made angry remarks about perceived mistreatment by New York Times columnist William Safire. Inman suggested that Safire had recruited Senator Bob Dole of Kansas to engage in a "vitriolic attack" on Inman, and also claimed that Dole and Senator Trent Lott were planning to "turn up the heat" on his nomination.

Dole's reaction was to state that "I have no idea what's gotten into Bobby Inman... Admiral Inman's letter doesn't make any sense to me." Lott appeared even more surprised, saying that "I am floored by [Inman's] bizarre press conference," while an unnamed White House aide added: "Most of us were glued to the tube, our mouths open in shock."¹

Inman has been influential in various advisory roles. Notably, he chaired a commission on improving security at U.S. foreign installations after the Marine barracks bombing and the April 1983 US Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. The commission's report has been influential in setting security design standards for U.S. Embassies.

Since 2001, Inman has been the LBJ Centennial Chair in National Policy at The University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and in 2005 was the school's interim dean ². Inman graduated from Texas with a bachelor's in history in 1950.

Inman has also served on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dell Computer, and SBC Corporation (now AT&T). ³. In 2006, Inman criticized the Bush administration's use of warrantless domestic wiretaps, making him one of the highest-ranking former intelligence officials to criticize the program in public ⁴⁵.

External links

• Biography of Bobby R. Inman
• Within a Month! The Bringing Down of Bobby Ray Inman

Notes

1. ^ Adm. Inman Asks Clinton To Withdraw Nomination - The Tech
2. ^ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Biography of Bobby R. Inman, retrieved October 16, 2007
3. ^ Pletz, John. "Michael Dell's view from the top", Austin American-Statesman, May 2, 2004
4. ^ Shachtman, Noah. "Ex-NSA Chief Assails Bush Taps", Wired News, May 9, 2006
5. ^ "Ex-NSA Head Bobby R. Inman on the National Security Agency’s Domestic Surveillance Program: “This Activity Was Not Authorized", www.democracynow.org, May 17, 2006

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