Gen. Petraeus is well liked by President Trump and respected by the military which could help
Late yesterday afternoon, Vice Admiral Robert Harward officially turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trump’s request Monday. News Talk Florida has learned that the White House is giving strong consideration to retired Gen. David Petraeus, who was at one point in his impressive career was the head of CENTCOM based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
He was in Washington this past week and did swing by the White House for a short visit. Earlier in the week multiple sources reported that Gen. Petraeus was in the running for the post along with acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg.
Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.
He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation. But despite that lapse of judgement, he remains well respected and very qualified to be national security advisor.
The Trump admiration does not want to leave that spot open for any long period of time. They seem headed quickly to the right person for the job.
Following Flynn’s ouster, administration officials said his deputy, KT McFarland, was staying on at the NSC. McFarland is a former Fox News analyst.
Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.
Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.
He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.
As for Gen. Harward, he also had Tampa ties serving as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. Harward served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.
But in the end Harwood decided that staying the private sector was best for himself and his family. After his retirement in 2013, the 40-year career Navy man, Harward became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. That is a very lucrative job to give up and in the end chose not to.
