Political Quotes

Leon Panetta

The Public Record

Leon Panetta is a prominent Democratic politician from California, known for his extensive career in public service. He served as the 23rd Secretary of Defense under President Barack Obama from 2011 to 2013, where he played a key role in military operations, including the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Prior to that, he was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2009 to 2011, focusing on national security and intelligence reform. Panetta has also served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California's 16th congressional district from 1977 to 1993, where he was known for his work on budget and agriculture issues.

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★ Featured Quote

June 7, 2026

it's shaping up to be “Trump’s Vietnam,”

Leon Panetta

Jun 7, 2026

It's shaping up to be 'Trump's Vietnam.'

salon.com
Jun 7, 2026

I think America will be back fighting Iran again in a few years, no matter what happens now.

salon.com
Jun 26, 2025

The facts have to be presented to the American people, and it's the American people who will judge what is right or wrong.

newsweek.com
Mar 26, 2025

I don’t think there is any question that we are dealing with classified information.

nbcnews.com
Mar 23, 2025

Somebody needs to get fired.

cnn.com
Mar 20, 2025

He's in business with China as you mentioned, half of the Teslas that are made are made in China. His fate depends a great deal on what happens with China and his ability to gain access to that kind of information is the kind of thing that…

transcripts.cnn.com
Mar 20, 2025

The answer is no, not at all. Not in 100 years. These plans that the Pentagon develops, we -- we develop these plans to deal with every potential crisis that's out there.

transcripts.cnn.com
Mar 2, 2025

What Trump is trying to do in order to convince Putin to come to the table is not going to work if Putin senses weakness on the part of the United States.

alternet.org
Mar 2, 2025

And that is the danger here: that rather than bringing peace, it's going to bring more war.

alternet.org
Mar 2, 2025

I think it's pretty clear that that Mr. Trump has turned 80 years of U.S. foreign policy on its head.

alternet.org

Politicians like Leon Panetta