"I will miss him," Bush said.Tenet came to the White House to inform Bush about his decision Wednesday night. "He told me he was resigning for personal reasons," Bush said. "I told him I'm sorry he's leaving. He's done a superb job on behalf of the American people."
"He's been a strong and able leader at the agency. and I will miss him," Bush said of Tenet as he got ready to board Marine One for a trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and on to Europe.
"George Tenet is the kind of public servant you like to work with," the president added. "He's strong, he's resolute. He's served his nation as the director for seven years. He has been a strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a strong leader in the war on terror."
"I send my blessings to George and his family and look forward to working with him until he leaves the agency," Bush said.
Conventional wisdom had been that Tenet, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, did not plan to stay on next year, no matter who won the White House. Tenet has been on the job since July 1997, an unusually lengthy tenure in a particularly taxing era for the intelligence community that he heads.Tenet is the son of Greek immigrants who grew up in Queens, N.Y.
Some close to Tenet have said the job overseeing more than a dozen agencies that make up the intelligence community has been taxing for him. He suffered heart problems while at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration, although a CIA official said his resignation was not health related.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called Tenet "an honorable and decent man who has served his country well in difficult times, and no one should make him a fall guy for anything."
Background Info: George J. Tenet
Slideshow:The Bush Cabinet
Background Info: Tenet's Interim Replacement
BIO BOXAGE-BIRTH DATE: 44. Jan. 5, 1953
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 1976; Master's degree in international affairs, Columbia University, 1978
EXPERIENCE: Staff director, Senate Committee on Intelligence, 1988-1993; National Security Council staff 1993-1995; deputy director, Central Intelligence Agency, 1995-1996; acting CIA director 1996-1997; CIA director 1997-2004; submitted resignation June 3, citing personal reasons
FAMILY: Wife, A. Stephanie Glakas-Tenet; son John Michael
QUOTE: "There is no room for either politics or partisanship in the way the intelligence community performs its duties."
