of the Central Intelligence Agency. Gates is the only career officer in the CIA’s history to rise from entry-level employee to director. He served as deputy director of Central Intelligence and as assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser at the White House for President George H.W. Bush. Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received the CIA’s highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.
Eric Holder, Attorney General
Eric Holder is a litigation partner at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, DC. Holder has held a number of significant positions in government. Upon graduating from Columbia Law School, he moved to Washington and joined the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General’s Honors Program. In 1988, Mr. Holder was nominated by President Reagan and confirmed by the Senate to become an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Over the next five years, Holder presided over hundreds of civil and criminal trials and matters. President Bill Clinton nominated Holder to become the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and served as the head of the largest U.S. Attorneys office in the nation for nearly four years. Clinton appointed Holder to serve as deputy attorney general, the number two position in the Department of Justice. He was the first African-American to serve as deputy attorney general. Holder briefly served under President George W. Bush as acting attorney general pending the confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Gov. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
Named one of America’s top five governors by Time magazine and one of America’s top women leaders by Newsweek, Janet Napolitano stands out as a leader in developing innovative solutions to some of the U.S.’s greatest challenges. As governor of Arizona, she’s fought for quality schools, affordable healthcare, sensible economic development, a safe homeland, a secure border, and a government that is run efficiently and responsibly. She led the effort to create a new grade level in public school by offering voluntary full day kindergarten to every Arizona family. She raised teacher pay, expanded access to health insurance, and saved seniors millions on prescription drugs.
As U.S. attorney for Arizona, Napolitano led the Arizona portion of the domestic terrorism investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing; as attorney general, she helped write the law to break up human smuggling rings; and as governor, she implemented the first state homeland security strategy in the nation and opened the first state counter-terrorism center. She is a leader in coordinating federal, state, local and bi-national homeland security efforts, having presided over large-scale disaster preparedness exercises to ensure well-crafted and functional emergency plans. Napolitano was the first governor to call for the National Guard to assist at the U.S.-Mexico border at federal expense, and is a leading national voice for comprehensive immigration reform. The past chair of the National Governors Association — the first woman in history to