Patrick Shanahan rose to acclaim as the defense industry’s “Mr. Fix-It,” but a Pentagon facing the threat of war with Iran, missile testing in North Korea, and aggressive behavior from Russia won’t benefit from his problem-solving skills. Shanahan withdrew from consideration as secretary of defense Tuesday after media reports revealed incidents of domestic abuse in his family.
Shanahan, who set a record as longest acting defense secretary, said he was removing himself from public life entirely in an effort to shield his family from revisiting painful memories.
“I believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family’s life and reopen wounds we have worked years to heal. Ultimately, their safety and well-being is my highest priority,” Shanahan said in a statement.
“I would welcome the opportunity to be Secretary of Defense, but not at the expense of being a good father.”
Shanahan’s exit follows reports of two domestic violence episodes. The first occurred on Aug. 28, 2010, when police charged Shanahan’s wife, Kimberley Jordinson, with assault after she reportedly struck him during a heated dispute. Shanahan said he dropped the charges “in the interest of my family,” and he eventually filed for divorce. The second incident took place in November 2011, when Shanahan’s son William attacked Jordinson with a baseball bat, leaving her with a fractured skull and internal injuries requiring surgery.
“Our story is not dissimilar to those of the many families facing the difficult challenges that come when a loved one struggles with substance abuse and other emotional issues as is the case with my former-wife,” Shanahan said in a separate Monday night statement.
These incidents didn’t come up during Shanahan’s confirmation hearing for deputy secretary of defense in 2017. Complaints against him then focused on his lack of government experience and career as a defense contractor executive. Nevertheless, Shanahan was confirmed by a 92-7 vote.
A native of Palo Alto, Calif., Shanahan, 56, studied mechanical engineering at the University of Washington before going to work for Boeing, where he held a variety of positions overseeing both civilian and defense programs. He went on to obtain master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and business administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shanahan gained a reputation as an effective manager, earning the nickname “Mr. Fix-it” for his ability to solve major problems. He was credited with rescuing the company’s multibillion-dollar missile defense system in the mid-2000s. When production problems started to jeopardize the company’s pending release of 860 state-of-art 787 Dreamliner aircraft valued at $110 billion in 2007, Shanahan was called in to save the day.
When he was tapped to become the Pentagon’s No. 2, Shanahan faced an even more monumental challenge: improving military readiness after nearly two decades of war while investing in new technologies for future conflicts. Shanahan had the advantage of serving under Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, an immensely popular retired Marine Corps general who commanded respect from Republicans and Democrats alike. Even so, Shanahan had to help secure funding from an increasingly partisan Congress, which would see the Pentagon’s funding slashed due to caps set forth by 2011’s Budget Control Act if it failed to pass a defense spending bill. Crisis was averted for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, allowing the military to improve its equipment and training. The Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy, released last year, outlined new goals as the military turns its focus from counterterrorism back to great power competition with countries such as China and Russia.
“Mr. Fix-It” was then called to take on another daunting task: replacing Mattis. The secretary submitted his resignation letter to Trump on Dec. 20, 2018, saying the president deserved a Pentagon chief “better aligned” with his views after disputes over troop withdrawals in Syria and Afghanistan. Mattis had planned to leave at the end of February, but Trump pushed him out early, leaving Shanahan to fill the void.
Early into his tenure as acting secretary, Shanahan was investigated by the Pentagon’s inspector general for possible ethics violations regarding his former employer, Boeing. He was accused of “repeatedly dumping” on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter in meetings and at one point calling it “f–ked up.” The inspector general exonerated Shanahan in April, clearing what was thought to be the final hurdle to his nomination to take over the Pentagon permanently. President Trump announced the nomination the next month, but it never made its way to the Senate.
Trump has named Secretary of the Army Mark Esper Shanahan’s replacement as acting secretary, though the Pentagon was unable to provide the Washington Examiner a timetable for the transition.
