Kathleen Hicks
American government official (born 1970)
Kathleen Hicks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 35th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office February 9, 2021 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | David Norquist |
| 9th Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy | |
| In office May 24, 2012 – July 2, 2013 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | James Miller |
| Succeeded by | Brian P. McKeon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kathleen Anne Holland (1970-09-25) September 25, 1970 (age 53) Fairfield, California, U.S. |
| Spouse | Thomas W. Hicks |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Mount Holyoke College (BA) University of Maryland, College Park (MPA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) |
Kathleen Anne Holland Hicks[1][2] (born September 25, 1970)[1][3] is an American government official who has served as the United States deputy secretary of defense since 2021. She is the first Senate-confirmed woman in this role and is the highest ranking woman to have served in the United States Department of Defense. Hicks previously served as the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy during the Obama administration.[4] By 2020 Hicks was an academic and national security advisor working as a senior vice president and director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.[5]
Education
Hicks completed a B.A. in history and politics at Mount Holyoke College in 1991, where she graduated with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors.[6] In 1993, she earned an M.P.A. in national security studies at University of Maryland, College Park.[7] Hicks completed a Ph.D. in political science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010.[8] Her dissertation was titled Change Agents: Who Leads and Why in the Execution of U.S. National Security Policy. Charles Stewart III was Hicks' doctoral advisor.[7]
Career
From 1993 to 2006, Hicks was a career civil servant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, rising from Presidential Management Intern to the Senior Executive Service. She was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from 2006 to 2009, leading a variety of national security research projects.[6]
During the Obama administration in 2009, Hicks was appointed deputy undersecretary of defense for strategy, plans, and forces.[9] In 2012, Hicks was the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy during the Obama administration.[10] In that role, she was a liaison for the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review and oversaw the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance.[11] Hicks was a presidentially appointed commissioner for the National Commission on the Future of the Army. She is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of advisors for the Truman National Security Project and SoldierStrong.[6]
Hicks formerly served as a senior vice president, Henry A. Kissinger Chair, and director of the international security program at CSIS. She concurrently served as the Donald Marron scholar at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.[11] In October 2020, she also served on the CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel on Vaccine Confidence and Misinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, co-chaired by Heidi Larson and J. Stephen Morrison.[12]
United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
On December 30, 2020, Hicks was announced as then U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for the United States deputy secretary of defense. She appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 2, 2021.[13] She was confirmed by voice vote by the full Senate on February 8, 2021 and sworn into office on February 9, 2021.[14] She is the first Senate-confirmed woman in this role.[15] Hicks is the highest ranking woman to have served in the United States Department of Defense.[16]
Hicks was tasked with leading the modernization of the U.S.' nuclear triad.[17][18]
In January 2024, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin temporarily delegated his authority to Hicks while he was hospitalized. Hicks performed the role of Secretary of Defense "on and off" while vacationing in Puerto Rico, but was left unaware of the reason why for three days.[19] In February 2024, Austin again delegated his authority to Hicks while being hospitalized.[20]
2023 interview with Jon Stewart
In April 2023, Hicks sat down with comedian Jon Stewart for a wide ranging interview at the War Horse Symposium in Chicago. Stewart addressed questions to her regarding military spending and the failures to help veterans. He described the failure to pass annual audits as evidence of "waste, fraud, and abuse" adding, "Congress gave [the military] billions of dollars to go to war, every year, for a lot of years, and then the veterans have to fight for money on the back end".[21] Hicks acknowledged that those issues did "play into recruiting and retention challenges for defense officials".[22] The exchange went viral online with many praising Stewart for highlighting the issue, while Hicks was criticized for laughing at Stewart's concerns and making condescending comments such as asking Stewart if he knew what an audit was.[23][24] Laura Seligman of Politico wrote of the exchange, "One potential hurdle for Hicks is the bad press from an interview with Jon Stewart, [who] ripped military spending as “corruption” and Hicks came off looking defensive".[25]
Selected works
- Hicks, Kathleen; Ridge, Eric (2007). Planning for Stability Operations: The Use of Capabilities-based Approaches. Center for Strategic and International Studies. ISBN 978-0-89206-515-8.
- Hicks, Kathleen H. (2008). Invigorating Defense Department Governance: A Beyond Goldwater-Nichols, Phase 4, Report. Center for Strategic and International Studies. ISBN 978-0-89206-528-8.
- Hicks, Kathleen H.; Wormuth, Christine E.; Ridge, Eric (2009). The Future of U.S. Civil Affairs Forces. Center for Strategic and International Studies. ISBN 978-0-89206-568-4.
- Alterman, Jon B.; Hicks, Kathleen H. (2015). Federated Defense in the Middle East. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-5881-5.
- Hicks, Kathleen H.; Metrick, Andrew; Samp, Lisa Sawyer; Weinberger, Kathleen (August 2, 2016). Undersea Warfare in Northern Europe. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-5968-3.
- Hicks, Kathleen H.; Samp, Lisa Sawyer (2017). Recalibrating U.S. Strategy toward Russia: A New Time for Choosing. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-8006-9.
- Hicks, Kathleen H.; Lauter, Louis; McElhinny, Colin (2018). Beyond the Water's Edge: Measuring the Internationalism of Congress. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-8088-5.
References
- ^ a b "Nominations Before The Senate Armed Services Committee, Second Session, 112th Congress". U.S. Congress. 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- ^ "PN79-5 — Kathleen Holland Hicks — Department of Defense". U.S. Congress. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
- ^ "Hicks, Kathleen H." Virtual International Authority File. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ Department of Defense Key Officials September 1947–December 2020 (PDF). Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense. p. 35. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- ^ Vislocky, Jana (February 19, 2021). "Who's Who in Defense: Kathleen Hicks, Deputy Secretary Of Defense". Breaking Defense. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Biography: Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States" (PDF). Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - ^ a b Hicks, Kathleen H. (2010). Change Agents: Who Leads and Why in the Execution of U.S. National Security Policy (Ph.D. thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/59793. OCLC 671485930.
- ^ Zimmerman, Leda (May 4, 2020). "A forum for female voices in international security". MIT News. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ Rozen, Laura (April 2, 2009). "Pentagon appointments". Foreign Policy. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ Sullivan, Kate; Lee, MJ (December 30, 2020). "Biden names Kathleen Hicks as first woman deputy defense secretary". CNN. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ a b Seck, Hope Hodge (December 30, 2020). "Biden Taps Kathleen Hicks to Be the Pentagon's First Female Deputy SecDef". Military.com. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ Call to Action: CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel on Vaccine Confidence and Misinformation, October 19, 2020 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
- ^ "How Kathleen Hicks will approach nukes, shipbuilding and the budget". DefenseNews. February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "DOD Announces New Deputy Secretary of Defense" (Press release). U.S. Department of Defense. February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- ^ Seligman, Lara (December 30, 2020). "Kathleen Hicks is Biden's pick to be first female deputy Defense secretary". Politico. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ Hinchliffe, Emma; Goodkind, Nicole (November 12, 2021). "The highest-ranking female official at the Pentagon is used to being the only woman in the room". Fortune. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ Paul McCleary (2 Feb 2021) DepSecDef Will Run Most Missile Defense, Nuke Modernization; SecDef Recused
- ^ Paul McCleary (24 Feb 2021) New Hicks Memo Sets Acquisition, Force Posture 2022 Budget Priorities Feb. 17 memo.
- ^ "The 3 biggest questions of the Austin saga". Politico. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
- ^ "Lloyd Austin hospitalized for a bladder issue; duties transferred to deputy defense secretary". NBC News. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
- ^ ""That's f**king corruption!": Jon Stewart corners top Pentagon official in epic confrontation". Salon. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "Jon Stewart blasts 'corruption' in Pentagon spending priorities". Yahoo News. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "Video of Jon Stewart Accusing Pentagon of 'Corruption' Viewed 1.4M Times". Newsweek. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "Deputy SECDEF shows ridiculous indignation at Jon Stewart for asking about corruption". American Military News. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "In a second Trump or Biden term, who'd be the next defense chief?". Politico. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
External links
Media related to Kathleen H. Hicks at Wikimedia Commons- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Kathleen Hicks on Twitter
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| Preceded by | United States Deputy Secretary of Defense 2021–present | Incumbent |
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