(2006-0999-F) Les Aspin - PFIAB

The materials in FOIA 2006-0999-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. Les Aspin was a well respected and highly qualified Chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Aspin, a Democrat, was elected to represent the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin in 1971. Once in office, Aspin was highly critical of the Defense Department and of the war effort in Vietnam. This led to an increasing interest in Defense and Intelligence matters and by 1985, Aspin was Chairman of the House Committee on Armed Services where he became recognized as a leading authority on defense matters. During Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign Aspin was selected to be an advisor on defense matters. Later he was selected by President Clinton to be Secretary of Defense and confirmed by the Senate in early 1993. His tenure as Secretary of Defense was marked by some of the most contentious battles the department ever faced. His regulations on homosexuals in the military—the famous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy—wounded both Aspin and Clinton politically. A number of actions and policies including his complete review of Defense Department budgets and priorities, cuts to the defense budget, the ongoing base closure program, and the police actions in Haiti, Bosnia, and Somalia; brought intense pressure from both supporters and detractors. It was following the well publicized loss of three Army helicopters and the lives of eighteen military personnel in Somalia that Aspin stepped down as Secretary of Defense. Though there was a strong call from members of Congress for his resignation, officially Aspin’s December 15, 1993 resignation was for health reasons. Aspin served until the confirmation of his replacement and ended his term as Secretary of Defense on February 3, 1994. He was appointed as Chair of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on May 26, 1994. Aspin was born in Milwaukee, WI, July 21, 1938. He graduated from Yale in 1960, was a Rhodes Scholar completing studies at Oxford in 1962, and he received a Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT in 1965. He joined the United States Army in 1966 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. Ultimately rising to the rank of Captain, Aspin resigned from the United States Army Reserve in 1970 to run for Congress. That year Aspin won the election for the 1st Congressional District in Wisconsin. Aspin represented Congress in the 92nd and every following Congress until his retirement January 20, 1993. He died unexpectedly, the result of a stroke, at the age of 56 on May 21, 1995. The President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Executive Order 10656, signed February 6, 1956, created the President’s Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities. Eisenhower believed that this board of respected and knowledgeable citizens could provide him with unbiased and candid appraisals of United States’ intelligence activities. President John Kennedy, by the signing of Executive Order 10938 on May 4, 1961, renamed the Board of Consultants, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Though the name was changed, the board continued to operate in much the same fashion. Executive Order 11460, signed by President Richard Nixon on March 20, 1969, again changed the name of the PFIAB to the President’s Advisory Intelligence Board. President Jimmy Carter abolished the board in March of 1977. Carter did however, retain the Intelligence Oversight Board. The IOB was created by President Gerald Ford in 1976 following a post Watergate investigation by Congress into potential illegal activities of the intelligence agencies. The IOB was tasked with reporting potential illegal activities to the Department of Justice for review. As Ford told Congress in 1976, “I believe [the changes] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time allowing them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information.” President Ronald Reagan modified the role of the IOB in 1981 and re-established the PFIAB in 1985 by signing Executive Order 12537. President William Jefferson Clinton combined the IOB and the PFIAB, making the IOB a committee rather than an independent organization. President George W. Bush radically modified the role of both the IOB and the PFIAB following the creation of a Director of National Intelligence. The newly named President’s Intelligence Advisory Board was designated to oversee the intelligence collection activities of any Federal agency engaged in the collection of intelligence or the production of intelligence policy. President Barak Obama more clearly defined the role of the PIAB and strengthened the IOB with the passage of Executive Order 13516. Under President Clinton the PFIAB had between eleven and twelve members, by law it could be no more than sixteen, whose terms were established by the President. Members were chosen for their independence, knowledge, and experience. The members of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board serve as unpaid observers of United States intelligence community. Much of their work is highly secret in nature though Presidents have chosen on occasion to make the Board’s reports, or portions thereof, public. The members of the Board are appointed by the President and the Director serves at the leisure of the President. Clinton Presidential Records relating to Les Aspin and his service on the PFIAB consist of emails, memorandum, and administrative paperwork. The records relate to Aspin’s nomination on the PFIAB and to his service on the PFIAB though there are few records directly from Aspin. Many of the NSC emails consist of press guidance on various foreign policy positions. A number of these records relate to Aspin’s participation in a review of the roles and responsibilities of the intelligence community. Many of the records produced for this FOIA were from personnel files which resulted in many closures related to personal privacy. Also the nature of the work undertaken by PFIAB resulted in many records closed for national security reasons.