Joe Sestak

Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2010. A three-star admiral, he was the highest-ranking military official ever elected to the United States Congress at the time of his election. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election, launching his campaign on June 23, 2019, and ending it on December 1, 2019, subsequently endorsing Amy Klobuchar.

Graduating second in his class at the United States Naval Academy, Sestak served in the United States Navy for over 31 years and rose to the rank of three-star admiral. He served as the Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council staff under President Bill Clinton and held a series of operational commands, including commanding the USS ''George Washington'' carrier strike group during combat operations in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean in 2002.

Sestak was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, and reelected in 2008 by a 20% margin. He declined to run for reelection in 2010, instead running for the Senate. In the Democratic primary he defeated incumbent Senator Arlen Specter, in office since 1981, 54% to 46%, but lost the general election to Republican nominee Pat Toomey in a close race. Sestak sought a rematch with Toomey in the 2016 election, but lost the primary to Katie McGinty by just under ten points, in the closest and costliest Senate primary of the 2016 cycle, while facing opposition from prominent Democrats.

Sestak announced a campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in on June 23, 2019. His campaign attracted little support and he failed to qualify for any debates. He dropped out of the race on December 1, 2019.

Sestak has also served as president of FIRST Global, a nonprofit with the objective of promoting STEM education that brought high-school age teams from 157 countries to Washington, D.C., for the inaugural robotics Olympics. In 2022, he announced he was leaving the Democratic Party and joining the Forward Party.

Early life, education and early career

Sestak was born in Secane, Pennsylvania, the son of Kathleen L. (Schlichte) and Joseph Ambrose Sestak. His grandfather Martin Šesták came to America from the Slovak village of Dolné Lovčice in 1922, after World War I, while his father, Joseph Sr., was sent to join Martin in America in 1924. Sestak's father graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1942, and then fought in both the Atlantic and the Pacific during World War II, attaining the rank of captain.Fitzgerald, Thomas
Sestak's tough fight for Senate seat.
''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. April 11, 2010. He continued his service after the war as an engineering officer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Sestak attended Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Pennsylvania, where his mother worked as a math teacher. He was deeply inspired by his father and has recalled the time his father spent five hours fixing the family car in the freezing cold of a Philadelphia winter:

I remember going to the window and watching him. And the admiration that I had—just that strong determination of his. Never give in.

Following in his father's footsteps, Sestak was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy immediately after graduating from high school, during the Vietnam War. In 1974 Sestak graduated second in his class of over 900 midshipmen, with a Bachelor of Science degree in American political systems.VADM Joseph Sestak, USN Ret., Officer Bio File, United States Navy Operational Archives, U.S. Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. Between tours at sea he earned a Master of Public Administration and a PhD in political economy and government from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1980 and 1984, respectively.

Naval career

As a surface warfare officer Sestak served division officer tours as damage control assistant, combat information center officer and weapons officer on the guided missile destroyer USS ''Richard E. Byrd'', and later as weapons officer on the guided missile destroyer USS ''Hoel''. He then served as aide and flag lieutenant to the admiral in charge of United States Navy surface forces in the Pacific.

In January 1986 Sestak became executive officer of the guided missile frigate USS ''Underwood'' and was instrumental in the Underwood's winning the coveted battle E and the Battenberg Cup (awarded to the best ship in the Atlantic fleet). He then served in the Politico-Military Assessment Division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On August 30, 1991, Sestak took command of the guided missile frigate USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'', which was named the Atlantic Fleet's best surface combatant in the 1993 Battenberg Cup competition.

In July 1993 Sestak became the head of the Strategy and Concepts Branch in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. From November 1994 to March 1997 he was the Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council staff at the White House, where he was responsible for the Clinton Administration's national security strategy, policies, programs, inter-agency and congressional coordination and regional political-military advice. In May 1997 he became the commander of Destroyer Squadron 14.

Sestak then directed the CNO's Strategy and Policy Division (N51), and led the navy's efforts toward the 2000 Quadrennial Defense Review, for which he analyzed military strategic requirements and the economic value of U.S. defense spending. After the September 11 attacks he became the first director of the Navy Operations Group (Deep Blue), the navy's strategic anti-terrorism unit, which sought to redefine strategic, operational and budgetary policies in the Global War on Terrorism, reporting directly to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Vern Clark. In 2002 Sestak assumed command of the George Washington Aircraft Carrier Battle Group of 10 U.S. ships and 10,000 sailors, SEALs, Marines, and 100 aircraft. He integrated it with a coalition of 20 allied ships and 5,000 sailors. It conducted combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sestak became the director of the CNO's Analysis Group, again reporting directly to CNO Clark as policy adviser and administrator, where he directed independent analysis on strategy, warfare requirements, and resources for the CNO outside of the normal bureaucratic process of the Navy staff. Under Clark, Sestak worked to rein in military spending by maximizing fleet efficiency. In 2004 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs (N6/N7), where he implemented his ideas and analyses in the Navy's $350 billion Five Year Defense Plan to transform the Navy from a less effective, expensive platform-centric force structure to a more effective capabilities-based force posture with cyber and sensors. It resulted in a shipbuilding plan that departed from the traditional goal for a 375-ship level to one as low as 260.

On September 11, 2001, Sestak was on duty at the Pentagon, leaving the building moments before it was attacked.

In 2005, Sestak pushed to add a second aircraft carrier in the Pacific to support allies, deter challenges from China, and be closer to potential hot spots such as the Koreas and the Taiwan Strait, saying, "if you don’t have the speed to get to the conflict when you really need to be there, you’re interesting, but irrelevant."

2005 reassignment

In 2005, after CNO Clark retired, Sestak was administratively removed from his position as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs (N6/N7), a three-star position.Jacobson, Louis
Sestak: Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead
''Real Clear Politics''. June 9, 2009. His removal was one of the first changes made by Admiral Michael Mullen when he took over as the new Chief of Naval Operations in July 2005, according to ''Navy Times''.

Sestak was reverted to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral, and was reassigned as a special assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He then opted to retire when his three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with malignant brain cancer. Controversy ensued over his departure: it was reported that he was pushed out because he "ruffled feathers" within the Bush Administration and came into conflict with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld over Sestak's advocacy for spending cuts; Sestak's plan to change the Navy's force structure goals from 375 to as low as 260 by commanding the new emerging capability of cyberspace was controversial.

One hundred senior and junior officers, as well as enlisted personnel who served with Sestak, later signed a letter supporting him as "a leader of the highest caliber, a man of tremendous character, and a military officer of uncommon compassion."

In an investigative report by ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', Chief of Naval Operations Vern Clark said of Sestak:

He did what I asked him to do; I wanted straight talk, and this put him in the cross-hairs. People are going to say what they want to say, but estakchallenged people who did not want to be challenged. The guy is courageous, a patriot's patriot.

Clark told that Associated Press that Sestak "was an incredible officer, the best I've ever seen. Incredible moral courage, the courage to take the independent stand. When everybody else was saying, 'This is what we ought to do,' he would stand up and say, 'I don't see it that way.'" Of Sestak's reassignment by Mullen, Clark told ''The New York Times'', "I put him in that environment where he was in a position to create enemies," adding, "I should have given him better top cover."

After Sestak retired from the United States Navy, his daughter made a full recovery from cancer. He retired as a two-star admiral, not having maintained the rank of three-star admiral long enough to retain it in retirement.

Military decorations

Sestak's decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legion of Merit awards, two Meritorious Service Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, three Navy Commendation Medals and the Navy Achievement Medal.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2006

In 2006, with his daughter's recovery going smoothly, Sestak was motivated to run for Congress by the benefits he received under the United States Military's TRICARE health care program, which gave his daughter the care she needed to treat her brain tumor. Sestak stated that, during his travels to find the best treatment for his daughter, he saw children who did not have the same quality of care, or could not afford the necessary care. Sestak made health-care reform a pillar of his campaign in hopes of giving everyone the same care his family had. He called his congressional service a continuation of his military service, "paying back" the country that took care of his daughter.

Sestak began laying the groundwork for a Congressional run in the 7th district, his home district in Pennsylvania, as a Democrat. He was then told he had to first receive the endorsement of the "DCCC". Sestak first thought this meant his hometown's Delaware County Community College, but he was eventually steered toward the correct DCCC, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and informed its head, Rahm Emanuel, of his candidacy. Emanuel told Sestak he was not ready for to run in a district where registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats 2:1. Sestak decided to run anyway and turned to his brother, Richard, and sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret, who served as his campaign manager, top fundraiser and treasurer, respectively. Sestak challenged ten-term Republican incumbent Curt Weldon in the race, and proved a capable fundraiser. In the second quarter of 2006, he raised $704,000 to Weldon's $692,000; in the third, $1.14 million to $912,000. As of September 30, 2006, Sestak had $1.53 million cash on hand, while Weldon had $1.12 million in the bank after making a $500,000 TV ad buy that had not started as of the close of the third quarter. Sestak received campaign donations from people around the world, including performer Jimmy Buffett, John Grisham, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and many Naval officers.

A late September 2006 poll showed Sestak and Weldon locked in a statistical dead heat. Sestak led Weldon 44-43 among likely voters in a Franklin & Marshall College Keystone Poll released September 29. The poll also found that 49% of registered voters in the district felt it was time for change in the district and only 37% said Weldon deserved reelection. The numbers suggested Sestak had seriously eroded Weldon's previous lead; an April 2006 poll conducted by the pro-Democratic Party organization Democracy Corps had Weldon leading 51% to 41%. On October 6 the nonpartisan Cook Political Report

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