Ashton Carter, Passed Over Before, Gets Nod for Defense Job
Ashton Carter, Passed Over Before, Gets Nod for Defense Job by Craig Whitlock, Washington Post
After weeks of internal maneuvering to find new leadership for the Pentagon, President Obama on Friday announced his selection of a new defense secretary by nominating Ashton B. Carter, an Ivy League academic and national security insider whom he had passed over for the job the last time it was open.
If confirmed by the Senate, Carter, 60, will replace Chuck Hagel, the former Nebraska senator and Vietnam combat veteran who had lost the confidence of the White House and struggled to leave a distinctive mark at the Pentagon during his two years in office.
The change in leadership can be seen as a tacit admission by Obama that he made the wrong choice when he bypassed Carter, then the deputy defense secretary, and instead picked Hagel, his old Senate colleague…
