George Tenet Fast Facts

Here is a look at the life of George Tenet, former director of the CIA.

Birth date: January 5, 1953

Birth place: Flushing, NY

Birth name: George John Tenet

Father: John Tenet, restaurant owner

Mother: Evangelia Tenet

Marriage: A. Stephanie Glakas-Tenet

Children: John Michael

Education: Georgetown University, B.S.F.S., 1976; Columbia University, M.I.A., 1978

His parents immigrated to the United States from Greece.

Has a twin brother, William.

1978-1979 - Works as research director of the American Hellenic Institute.

1979-1982 - Works at the Solar Energy Industries Association.

1982-1985 - Serves as Legislative Assistant, then Legislative Director, for the office of Sen. John Heinz.

1985 - Becomes a staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

1989-1993 - Serves as staff director for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

1993 - Joins President Bill Clinton's national security transition team.

1993-1995 - Serves as senior director for intelligence programs for the National Security Council.

July 1995 - Appointed Deputy Director of the CIA by President Bill Clinton.

December 16, 1996 - Tenet becomes acting director of the CIA.

July 11, 1997 - Sworn in as Director of the CIA.

April 14, 2004 - Tenet testifies before the 9/11 commission acknowledging mistakes were made and saying that the CIA's failure to stop the September 11, 2001 terror attacks "haunts all of us to this day."

June 3, 2004 - President George W. Bush announces that Tenet has resigned as CIA Director. His last official day will be July 11, 2004.

December 14, 2004 - Is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2004-2007 - Professor at Georgetown University.

April 30, 2007 - His book, "At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA," is published. In an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" about the book he denies the use of torture by the United States in post 9/11 interrogations of al Qaeda operatives. Tenet also claims that repeated CIA warnings that a terrorist attack was imminent before 9/11 were ignored, and that senior officials used his "slam dunk" reference about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to bolster Bush's decision to launch the war.

2007-present - Managing director at investment bank Allen & Company in New York City.

December 9, 2014 - Along with other CIA officials, Tenet publishes an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal responding to a report regarding the torturous detention and interrogation techniques used by the US government when questioning suspected terrorists following 9/11.

August 16, 2018 - Former senior intelligence officials, including Tenet, release a statement denouncing President Donald Trump's decision to revoke John Brennan's security clearance. In the letter, the senior officials refer to the decision as "ill-considered" and "unprecedented."