Retired Gen. David Petraeus’ new teaching gig will now pay him just $1 a year — but that meager paycheck only comes after some outrage over the six-figure salary the university had previously offered him.
After resigning from his position as director of the Central Intelligence Agency amidst one of 2012’s greatest sex scandals, Petraeus signed on to teach a seminar this school year at Macaulay Honors College, part of the City University of New York’s urban public school system. CUNY originally offered the General somewhere between $150,000 to $200,000 to teach the once-a-week class, which soon turned into a new Petraeus scandal, as professors and politicians alike came together to condemn the university’s extravagant salary.
But it was actually Petraeus who proposed a pay cut in order to avoid yet another controversy.
“The General never was taking on this teaching assignment for the money,” Robert Barnett, Petraeus’ lawyer, told The New York Times. “Once controversy arose about the amount he was being paid, he decided it was much more important to keep the focus on the students, on the school and on the teaching, and not have it be about the money.”
It’s no surprise that Petraeus’ high CUNY salary would spark outrage among faculty members, as the average full-time member’s salary is just below $90,000 a year, according to The Associated Press. The former general is a qualified teaching candidate, however, as he did earn master’s and doctoral degrees from Princeton University.
Petraeus’ seminar, “Are We on the Threshold of the North American Decade,” will “examine in-depth and then synthesize the history and trends in diverse public policy topics with a view towards recommendations for America’s leadership role in the emerging global economy,” according to the course description. He will start his job at the university on Aug. 1.
The former four-star general, who commanded forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned from the CIA after his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell became public. Her biography, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus” is available new on Amazon in paperback for as little as 24 cents.
