NOVANEWS
Update: Corrects Carter’s status. President Obama hasn’t announced his nomination.
The Job Security Stinks…
In 2013, the average tenure of a departing S&P 500 chief executive officer was 9.7 years, according to the Conference Board. The average tenure of a secretary of defense: 1,030 days, or just shy of three years. Hagel lasted 635 days from when he assumed office to his resignation Nov. 24. That’s short by historical standards, but still a month longer than Leon Panetta, the man he replaced.
The Bureaucracy Will Eat You Alive…
The next secretary of defense immediately becomes CEO of the largest employer in the U.S. The Department of Defense has 1.4 million employees on active duty, 1.1 million more in reserve forces, and 718,000 civilian staffers, all spread across the globe. The secretary must contend with the egos and infighting of 239,000 officers, tame the heads of each of the armed services, and keep the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from making end runs around him to the Oval Office.
You’ll Never Get Your Boss’s Job…
The secretary of defense is second only to the president in the military chain of command. But only Dick Cheney has gone on to fill a higher position within the executive branch, becoming vice president under George W. Bush eight years after he served as secretary of defense under George H. W. Bush.
The Books Are a Mess…
The Pentagon has a $500 billion budget that the secretary is under great pressure to shrink. Under automatic sequestration cuts, Hagel was forced to furlough nonessential employees, put in place a hiring freeze, and find ways to slash billions in spending. Obama’s recent plan to increase involvement in Afghanistan, combined with an increasing threat from ISIS, won’t make controlling costs any easier on the new guy.
…and You’ll Be Way Underpaid
The secretary of defense, along with the rest of the president’s cabinet, is paid $199,700 a year. That’s well above the $84,523 median household income in the D.C. area, according to 2010 Census data, but it’s less than 1% of what top U.S. CEOs earned last year. Oh, and Congress can always vote to freeze your pay when it’s looking to save money, like it did in 2013.
