Frederick Whitten Peters (born August 20, 1946 in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

) is a

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

lawyer and senior level public official. His law practice specializes in civil and criminal litigation including contract fraud, antitrust, tax and security cases. He has served in several key positions within the

U.S. federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

, including as

Secretary of the Air Force A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

Early life

Before Peters had entered school, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois. He grew up and attended Lake Forest High School from 1960 to 1964 in a northern suburb of Chicago where his father had an architectural business. His father died when he was 13. Peters went on to earn a scholarship to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

from the Harvard Club of Chicago. He graduated from Harvard

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

with a bachelor of arts degree in government and economics in 1968.United States Air Force
"F. Whitten Peters"
Air Force Link, Air Force History Support Office, Washington, D.C., February 9, 2008. In 1969, Peters joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and earned distinguished graduate honors from the Navy Officer Candidate School in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. Because of his computer training at Harvard, he was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet Intelligence Center in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, where he ran the computer systems division. The sensitive nature of the information he handled at the Norfolk intelligence center prevented him from assignment to a war zone and prohibited him from traveling to a number of foreign countries for 10 years following the assignment. While he was there, the intelligence center received a meritorious unit citation for discovering Russian-built submarine pens in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. In February 1972, he was released by the Navy and hired back the next day as a civilian employee to complete a special project. In August 1972, he received Harvard's Frank Knox Traveling Fellowship to attend the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. He earned a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree with distinction in economics in 1973. He then entered

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. He served as president of the

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

for two years, and graduated

with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree in 1976.

Law practice

Following law school, Peters clerked for Federal Circuit Judge

J. Skelly Wright James Skelly Wright (January 14, 1911 – August 6, 1988) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District ...

and

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme ...

William J. Brennan William Joseph "Bill" Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the seventh-longest serving justice ...

in the District of Columbia. In 1978, he joined the

Williams & Connolly Williams & Connolly LLP is an American law firm based in Washington, D.C. The firm was founded by trial lawyer Edward Bennett Williams in collaboration with Paul Connolly, a former student of his. Williams left the partnership of D.C. firm Hog ...

law firm in Washington, D.C. as an associate attorney, becoming a partner in 1984. He remained with Williams & Connolly until 1995. During this time, Peters also served as an adjunct lecturer teaching government contract law at

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic Law ...

and

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

, and taught advanced criminal procedure at

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

. Peters served as a member of the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

Advisory Committee on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Law, and as chairman of the District of Columbia Bar Association's Rules of Professional Responsibility Review Committee.

Public service

In 1995, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

appointed Peters as principal deputy general counsel of the Department of Defense. In this position, he worked a wide range of defense issues including acquisition reform, counterterrorism, information system security, and affirmative action. In 1997,

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979� ...

recommended Peters for appointment as

Under Secretary of the Air Force The Under Secretary of the Air Force (USECAF, or SAF/US), sometimes referred to as the Under Secretary of the Department of the Air Force, is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Air Force, Departmen ...

. The

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

agreed, and he was sworn into that office on November 13, 1997. After Secretary of the Air Force

Sheila Widnall Sheila Marie Evans Widnall (born July 13, 1938) is an American aerospace researcher and Institute Professor Emerita at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She served as United States Secretary of the Air Force from 1993 to 1997, makin ...

resigned, Peters served as acting Secretary of the Air Force for 19 months. President Clinton nominated Peters to be Secretary of the Air Force on June 2, 1999. The Senate confirmed his appointment on July 30, 1999, and he was sworn in as the nineteenth Secretary on August 3, 1999. During his tenure as Secretary, the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

demonstrated its power in the

Kosovo conflict The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

while Peters helped secure funding for the

F-22 The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...

air superiority fighter. Peters served as Air Force Secretary until January 20, 2001.

Return to law

After leaving the Air Force in 2001, Peters returned to the Washington law firm of

as partner. He also served as vice chairman of the President's Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry which studied America's aerospace industry and assessed the future importance of that industry to the nation's security within the twenty-first century global environment. The commission's final report was submitted to the President and

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

on November 27, 2002. Peters also joined several private sector companies as a consultant or member of the board of directors. These firms included

DynCorp DynCorp (), formally DynCorp International, was an American private military contractor. Started as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training ...

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City movem ...

, where Peters took on the role of special assistant to the chief executive office in April 2001, and Ellipso corporation where he was elected to the board of directors in May 2001. Peters remains active in politics. During the 2008 Presidential race, Peters endorsed then-Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, and was listed among the Senator's foreign policy advisors."Over 70 Foreign Policy Experts Announce Endorsement of Barack Obama for President"
, Obama '08, Obama News and Speeches, Chicago, Illinois, December 19, 2007.

References

External links