Frederick Whitten Peters (born August 20, 1946 in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

) is a

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

lawyer and senior level public official. His law practice specializes in civil and criminal litigation including contract fraud, antitrust, tax and security cases. He has served in several key positions within the

U.S. federal government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

, including as

Secretary of the Air Force The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force, (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United Sta ...

Early life

Before Peters had entered school, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois. He grew up and attended Lake Forest High School from 1960 to 1964 in a northern suburb of Chicago where his father had an architectural business. His father died when he was 13. Peters went on to earn a scholarship to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from the Harvard Club of Chicago. He graduated from Harvard

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

with a bachelor of arts degree in government and economics in 1968.United States Air Force
"F. Whitten Peters"
Air Force Link, Air Force History Support Office, Washington, D.C., February 9, 2008. In 1969, Peters joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, and earned distinguished graduate honors from the Navy Officer Candidate School in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. Because of his computer training at Harvard, he was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet Intelligence Center in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, where he ran the computer systems division. The sensitive nature of the information he handled at the Norfolk intelligence center prevented him from assignment to a war zone and prohibited him from traveling to a number of foreign countries for 10 years following the assignment. While he was there, the intelligence center received a meritorious unit citation for discovering Russian-built submarine pens in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. In February 1972, he was released by the Navy and hired back the next day as a civilian employee to complete a special project. In August 1972, he received Harvard's Frank Knox Traveling Fellowship to attend the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. He earned a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree with distinction in economics in 1973. He then entered

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He served as president of the

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...

for two years, and graduated

with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree in 1976.

Law practice

Following law school, Peters clerked for Federal Circuit Judge

J. Skelly Wright James Skelly Wright (January 14, 1911 – August 6, 1988) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District ...

and

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...

William J. Brennan in the District of Columbia. In 1978, he joined the

Williams & Connolly Williams & Connolly LLP (often abbreviated to W&C) is an American law firm based in Washington, D.C. known for its specialization in white-collar crime defense. The firm was co-founded by Edward Bennett Williams and Paul Connolly in 1967. Willia ...

law firm in Washington, D.C. as an associate attorney, becoming a partner in 1984. He remained with Williams & Connolly until 1995. During this time, Peters also served as an adjunct lecturer teaching government contract law at

Columbus School of Law The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. More than 370 Juris Doctor students attend the ...

and

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

, and taught advanced criminal procedure at

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

. Peters served as a member of the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

Advisory Committee on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Law, and as chairman of the District of Columbia Bar Association's Rules of Professional Responsibility Review Committee.

Public service

In 1995, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

appointed Peters as principal deputy general counsel of the Department of Defense. In this position, he worked a wide range of defense issues including acquisition reform, counterterrorism, information system security, and affirmative action. In 1997,

Secretary of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979� ...

recommended Peters for appointment as

Under Secretary of the Air Force The under secretary of the air force (USECAF, or SAF/US), sometimes referred to as the under secretary of the Department of the Air Force, is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Air Force, Departmen ...

. The

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

agreed, and he was sworn into that office on November 13, 1997. After Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall resigned, Peters served as acting Secretary of the Air Force for 19 months. President Clinton nominated Peters to be Secretary of the Air Force on June 2, 1999. The Senate confirmed his appointment on July 30, 1999, and he was sworn in as the nineteenth Secretary on August 3, 1999. During his tenure as Secretary, the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

demonstrated its power in the

Kosovo conflict The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

while Peters helped secure funding for the

F-22 The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American twin-engine, jet-powered, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was desi ...

air superiority fighter. Peters served as Air Force Secretary until January 20, 2001.

Return to law

After leaving the Air Force in 2001, Peters returned to the Washington law firm of

as partner. He also served as vice chairman of the President's Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry which studied America's aerospace industry and assessed the future importance of that industry to the nation's security within the twenty-first century global environment. The commission's final report was submitted to the President and

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

on November 27, 2002. Peters also joined several private sector companies as a consultant or member of the board of directors. These firms included

DynCorp DynCorp International Inc. (), was an American private military contractor. Starting as an aviation company, the company also provided flight operations support, training and mentoring, international development, intelligence training and suppor ...

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a principal city of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Rest ...

, where Peters took on the role of special assistant to the chief executive office in April 2001, and Ellipso corporation where he was elected to the board of directors in May 2001. Peters remains active in politics. During the 2008 Presidential race, Peters endorsed then-Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, and was listed among the Senator's foreign policy advisors."Over 70 Foreign Policy Experts Announce Endorsement of Barack Obama for President"
, Obama '08, Obama News and Speeches, Chicago, Illinois, December 19, 2007.

References

External links