David Petraeus

David Howell Petraeus (born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus served 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and commander, U.S. Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A) from July 2010 to July 2011. His other four-star assignments include serving as the 10th commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) from October 2008 to June 2010, and as commanding general, Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I) from February 2007 to September 2008. As commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq.

Petraeus was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College class of 1983. He later served as assistant professor of international relations at the United States Military Academy and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University. Since 2022, he has taught courses in international relations at Yale University as a Kissinger Senior Fellow of the university's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

Petraeus has repeatedly stated that he has no plans to run for elected political office. On 23 June 2010, president Barack Obama nominated Petraeus to succeed General Stanley McChrystal as commanding general of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, technically a step down from his position as Commander of United States Central Command, which oversees the military efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt.