U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives

Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel was born on October 4, 1946 in North Platte, NE. The oldest of four brothers, he graduated from St. Bonaventure High School (now Scotus Central Catholic High School) in Columbus, NE. He joined the U.S. Army and volunteered to go to Vietnam, serving from 1967 to 1968 in the 9th Infantry Division. He attained the rank of Sergeant. Chuck and his brother Tom were in the same infantry squad and saved each other's lives on separate occasions. He earned numerous military honors and decorations including two Purple Hearts.

Hagel graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1971. He worked for Nebraska Congressman John Y. McCollister in Washington, D.C. and Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. In 1981, President Reagan nominated Hagel to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration where he pushed for increased benefits for Vietnam veterans suffering from Agent Orange. Hagel left that post in 1982.

Hagel co-founded Vanguard Celluar Systems and went on to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Service Organization (USO), Chief Operating Officer of the 1990 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations (G-7 Summit), Deputy Commissioner General of the U.S. for the 1982 World's Fair, President of the Private Sector Council, and President of McCarthy & Company (an Omaha-based investment bank).

Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, Hagel represented Nebraskans for two terms (1997-2009). He was a member of the committees on Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs; Labor & Human Resources; and Rules & Administration, along with the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Special Committee on Aging (not all concurrently). He was on Foreign Relations and Banking for both terms (1997-2009). He chaired both the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Economic Policy, Export, & Trade Promotion and the Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs subcommittees on International Trade & Finance and Securities & Investment. Hagel also served as the Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the Senate Climate Change Observer Group.

Following his retirement from the Senate, Hagel served as a Co-Chairman of President Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board and as a member of the Secretary of Defense Policy Board and the Department of Energy's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. He was Chairman of the Atlantic Council and a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

President Obama nominated Chuck Hagel to succeed Leon Panetta as the U.S. Secretary of Defense on January 7, 2013. He was sworn in on February 27, 2013 as the 24th Secretary of Defense. Hagel left that position in February, 2015, and returned to private life.