Anthony Principi

Infobox Officeholder
name = Anthony Joseph Principi


imagesize = 175px
small

caption =
order = 4^th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
term_start = January 23, 2001
term_end = January 26, 2005
vicepresident =
viceprimeminister =
deputy =
president = George W. Bush
primeminister =
predecessor = Togo D. West, Jr. Hershel W. Gobersmall|, act.
successor = Jim Nicholson
order2 = Acting United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
term_start2 = September 26, 1992
term_end2 = January 20, 1993
vicepresident2 =
viceprimeminister2 =
deputy2 =
president2 = George H. W. Bush
primeminister2 =
predecessor2 = Ed Derwinski
successor2 = Jesse Brown
birth_date=Birth date and age|1944|4|16|mf=y
birth_place=New York City
death_date=
death_place=
party=Republican
profession=

Anthony Joseph Principi (born April 16, 1944) was the 4th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He was appointed by President George W. Bush on January 23, 2001, and resigned on January 26, 2005.

Early life

Principi is a 1967 graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and first saw active duty aboard the destroyer "USS Joseph P. Kennedy". He later served in the Vietnam War, commanding a River Patrol Unit in the Mekong Delta.

Principi earned his Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall in 1975 and was assigned to the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps in San Diego, California. In 1980, he was transferred to Washington as a legislative counsel for the Department of the Navy.

Career

Principi has worked on national policy issues and has held several executive-level positions in federal government throughout his career. He chaired the Federal Quality Institute in 1991, and was chairman of the Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance established by Congress in 1996. [ [http://www.nndb.com/people/653/000062467/ Anthony J. Principi ] ]

Principi served as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, VA's second-highest executive position, from March 17, 1989, to September 26, 1992, when he was named Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs by President George H. W. Bush. He served in that position until January 1993. Following that appointment, he served as Republican chief counsel and staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services.

From 1984 to 1988, he served as Republican chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. He was the Veterans Administration's assistant deputy administrator for congressional and public affairs from 1983 to 1984, following three years as counsel to the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Political Controversy

On March 29, 2008, "The Los Angeles Times" reported that, "The California company headed by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi overcharged the agency some $6 million under a long-term contract to conduct physical evaluations on veterans applying for disability benefits" in a recent government audit. [cite news |title=Veterans Affairs was overcharged about $6 million, audit finds. [cite news |title=Veterans Affairs was overcharged about $6 million, audit finds |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-principi29mar29,1,5068463.story |work=LA Times |date=2008-03-29]

References

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Principi, Anthony
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Principi, Anthony Joseph
SHORT DESCRIPTION=4th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
DATE OF BIRTH=April 16, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH=New York City, United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=