Richard Armitage (politician)
| Richard Armitage | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Deputy Secretary of State | |
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In office March 26, 2001 – February 23, 2005 |
|
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Strobe Talbott |
| Succeeded by | Robert Zoellick |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs | |
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In office April 2, 1983 – June 5, 1989 Acting: April 2, 1983 – June 5, 1983 |
|
| President |
Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Bing West |
| Succeeded by | Harry Rowen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Richard Lee Armitage April 26, 1945 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Laura Alice Samford |
| Children | 8 |
| Alma mater | United States Naval Academy (BS) |
Richard Lee Armitage (born April 26, 1945) is an American former naval officer and a Republican politician who was appointed the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005 under George W. Bush. He has acknowledged that he publicly released the information that Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the CIA, triggering the Plame affair, although he has said it was inadvertent.
Armitage was born in Boston, the son of Ruth H. Armitage and Leo Holmes. He graduated from St. Pius X Catholic High School, in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1963. In 1967 graduated from the United States Naval Academy with the rank of ensign.
He served on a destroyer stationed off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War before volunteering to serve what would eventually become three combat tours with the riverine/advisory forces for the Republic of Vietnam Navy. According to Captain Kiem Do, a Republic of Vietnam Navy officer who served with him in Vietnam, Armitage "seemed drawn like a 'moth to flame' to the hotspots of the naval war: bedding down on the ground with Vietnamese commandos, sharing their rations and hot sauce, telling jokes in flawless Vietnamese". Instead of a uniform, Armitage often dressed in native garb. He adopted a Vietnamese pseudonym, "Tran Phu", based on an arbitrary, but personally relevant translation of his real name.
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