SecDef's Job Will Get Even Tougher

Barring some surprise unlikely for a Washington insider who has faced Senate confirmation more than once before, Leon Panetta will become the 23rd U.S. secretary of defense. On a good day, the job is nearly impossible, says Johns Hopkins University scholar Charles A. Stevenson. Only half of those serving as SecDef last more than 18 months, he points out in his authoritative book about the ...