Chuck Hagel

Hagel was born in North Platte, Nebraska, a son of Charles Dean Hagel, and his wife Elizabeth (Betty) Dunn. His father was of German heritage, while his mother was of Irish and Polish ancestry.Lelyveld, Joseph. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12hagel.html?pagewanted=all]. The New York Times Magazine, online edition, The Heartland Dissident, February 12, 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2012.Dufour, Jeff. [https://thehill.com/homenews/news/4956-glenn-close-and-chuck-norris-push-pet-projects/ Glenn Close and Chuck Norris push pet projects] . The Hill, online edition, Under The Dome, May 11, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2007. Growing up, Hagel lived across Nebraska; in Ainsworth, Rushville, Scottsbluff, Terrytown, York and Columbus.{{cite web |url=http://www.omaha.com/article/20130113/NEWS/701139834/1707 |title=Chuck Hagel's lifetime lessons from battlefield |work=Omaha World-Herald |author=David Hendee |date=January 13, 2012 |access-date=February 18, 2013}} Hagel was the oldest of four brothers.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-hagel-idUSBRE9050B320130106 |title=Republican maverick Hagel forged bond with Obama over Iraq |work=Reuters |author=Susan Cornwell |date=January 31, 2013 |access-date=February 18, 2013}} His father, a veteran of World War II, died suddenly on Christmas morning, 1962, at the age of 39, when Hagel was 16.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/us/politics/text-of-chuck-hagels-opening-remarks.html?pagewanted=all |title=Text of Chuck Hagel's Opening Remarks |newspaper=nytimes.com |date=January 31, 2013 |access-date=February 18, 2013}} He graduated from St. Bonaventure High School (now Scotus Central Catholic High School) in Columbus, Nebraska, in 1964, attended Brown Institute for radio and TV through 1966, and earned a BGS degree with a concentration in history from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1971.{{failed verification|date=April 2022}}{{cite news|agency=The Associated Press|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130106/us-bio-box-hagel/?ir=politics|title=Biographical information on ex-Sen. Chuck Hagel|work=The Huffington Post|date=October 4, 1946|access-date=January 7, 2013}}{{failed verification|date=April 2022}}

Hagel volunteered to be drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War, rejecting a draft board recommendation that he go to college instead.{{cite book|last=Berens|first=Charlyne|title=Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward|year=2006|publisher=Univ. of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-8032-1075-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/chuckhagelmoving0000bere/page/24 24]|url=https://archive.org/details/chuckhagelmoving0000bere|url-access=registration|quote=Chuck Hagel volunteer immediately.}} He served in the United States Army infantry in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. As a sergeant (E-5), he served as an infantry squad leader in the 9th Infantry Division.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.02230/ Experiencing War, Stories from the Veterans History Project, Charles Timothy Hagel], Library of Congress, accessed December 12, 2012. Hagel served in the same infantry squad as his younger brother Tom, and they are thought to be the only American brothers to have done so during the Vietnam War.[http://www.salon.com/2007/04/30/hagel_brothers/ "The private war of Chuck and Tom Hagel]" by Myra MacPherson, Salon, April 30, 2007. They also saved each other's lives on separate occasions. Hagel received the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 110th Congress, Government Printing Office, October 2, 2008, Remarks by Senator Harry Reid, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oz_BBI-_KzUC&dq=Chuck+Hagel++two+Purple+Hearts&pg=PA692 p. 692].

After his discharge, he worked as a radio newscaster and talk show host in Omaha from 1969 to 1971[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=h001028 Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress], United States Congress, accessed December 17, 2012. while finishing college on Veterans Administration (VA) assistance under the GI Bill.Loren Thompson, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2013/01/07/why-republicans-should-welcome-chuck-hagel-to-the-pentagons-top-job/ Why Republicans Should Welcome Chuck Hagel To The Pentagon's Top Job], Forbes, January 7, 2012.

In 1971, Hagel was hired as a staffer for Congressman John Y. McCollister (R-NE), serving until 1977. For the next four years, he worked as a lobbyist for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company,{{cite book|last=Berens|first=Charlyne|title=Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward|year=2006|publisher=Univ. of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-8032-1075-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chuckhagelmoving0000bere/page/52 52]–54|url=https://archive.org/details/chuckhagelmoving0000bere|url-access=registration|quote=Chuck Hagel Firestone.}} and in 1980, he served as an organizer for the successful presidential campaign of former California Governor Ronald Reagan.

After Reagan's inauguration as president, Hagel was named deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. In 1982, however, he resigned over a disagreement with VA Administrator Robert P. Nimmo, who was intent on cutting funding for VA programs. Nimmo had referred to veterans groups as "greedy", and to Agent Orange as not much worse than a "little teenage acne."{{cite book |author-link=Myra MacPherson |first=Myra |last=MacPherson |title=Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bo0fGCHVx3kC&q=Long+Time+Passing%3A+Vietnam+and+the+Haunted+Generation+teen+age+acne&pg=PR34 |page=xxxvi|isbn=9780253002761 }}

After leaving government employment, Hagel co-founded Vanguard Cellular, a mobile phone service carrier that made him a multi-millionaire.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/seven-things-you-need-to-know-about-chuck-hagel/2012/12/20/d217ca76-3f2a-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_gallery.html#photo=1 |title=Seven things you need to know about Chuck Hagel |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 20, 2012 |access-date=December 24, 2012}} While working with Vanguard, he served as president and chief executive officer of the United Service Organizations and the Private Sector Council, as deputy director and chief operating officer of the 1990 G7 Summit, and on the board of directors or advisory committee of the American Red Cross, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, Bread for the World, and the Ripon Society. He also served as Chairman of the Agent Orange Settlement Fund and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.{{cite web|url=http://www.acus.org/users/chuck-hagel|title=Chuck Hagel|publisher=Atlantic Council of the United States|access-date=December 24, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112211245/http://www.acus.org/users/chuck-hagel|archive-date=January 12, 2013}}

Although he was pressured by some to run for Governor of Virginia, where he had lived for 20 years, in 1992 Hagel moved back to Nebraska to become president of the McCarthy Group, LLC, an investment banking firm.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12hagel.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=The Heartland Dissident|work=The New York Times|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=December 24, 2012|first=Joseph|last=Lelyveld}} He also served as a chairman and was CEO of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), later known as Election Systems & Software, a computerized voting machine manufacturer jointly owned by McCarthy Group, LLC and the Omaha World-Herald company.{{cite news|title=The Heartland Dissident|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12hagel.html?pagewanted=7&_r=0&pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221234750/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12hagel.html?pagewanted=7&_r=0&pagewanted=all|archive-date=December 21, 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=December 23, 2012}} On March 15, 1995, Hagel resigned from the board of AIS as he intended to run for office.{{cite web|url=http://motherjones.com/politics/2004/03/diebolds-political-machine|work=Mother Jones|access-date=January 8, 2010|date=March 5, 2004|title=Diebold's Political Machine|author=Fitrakis, Bob and Harvey Wasserman}} Michael McCarthy, the parent company's founder, was Hagel's campaign treasurer.{{cite magazine|last=Collier|first=Victoria|title=How to Rig an Election|magazine=Harper's Magazine|date=October 18, 2012|volume=November 2012|url=http://harpers.org/archive/2012/11/how-to-rig-an-election/?single=1|publisher=Harper's|access-date=November 6, 2012}} Until at least 2003, he retained between $1 million and $5 million in stock in Election Systems & Software's parent company, the McCarthy Group.{{cite web |title=Hagel's ethics filings pose disclosure issue |first=Alexander |last=Bolton |work=The Hill |date=January 29, 2003 |url=http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx |access-date= June 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030401221124/http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx |archive-date=April 1, 2003 |url-status=dead}}

{{Main|1996 United States Senate election in Nebraska}}

In 1996, Hagel ran for the open US Senate seat created by the retirement of Democrat J. James Exon. Hagel's opponent was Ben Nelson, then the sitting governor of Nebraska. Hagel won and became the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska. Six years later, in 2002, Hagel overwhelmingly won re-election with over 83% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in any statewide race in Nebraska history.

File:Chuck Hagel official photo.jpg

According to David Boaz, of the Cato Institute, during the Bush administration, Hagel maintained a "traditionally Republican" voting record, receiving "a lifetime rating of 84 percent from the American Conservative Union and consistent A and B grades from the National Taxpayers Union."Boaz, David (December 27, 2010) [http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/is-chuck-hagel-a-republican/ Is Chuck Hagel a Republican?], Cato Institute On the Issues describes Hagel as a "libertarian-leaning conservative."[http://www.ontheissues.org/Chuck_Hagel.htm Chuck Hagel profile], On the Issues, accessed December 19, 2012. According to Boaz, among his most notable votes, Hagel:

• Voted for the Patriot Act;{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00313 |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 1st Session |publisher=U.S. Senate }}
• Voted for the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts;{{cite web |url=http://votesmart.org/bill/votes/8369#.UNjV7W9ZUV0 |title=HR 1836 - ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TAX RELIEF RECONCILIATION ACT, 2001 - VOTING RECORD |publisher=votesmart.org |date=May 26, 2001 |access-date=December 24, 2012 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00196 |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 108th Congress - 1st Session |publisher=senate.gov |access-date=December 24, 2012 }}
• Voted against No Child Left Behind;{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00371 |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 1st Session |publisher=senate.gov |access-date=December 24, 2012 }}
• Voted against the Medicare prescription drug bill;{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00459 |title=U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home - Votes - Roll Call Vote |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=January 7, 2013}}
• Voted against McCain-Feingold.{{cite web |url=http://votesmart.org/bill/votes/7717#.UNja629ZUV0 |title=HR 2356 - CAMPAIGN REFORM ACT OF 2001 - VOTING RECORD |publisher=votesmart.org |access-date=December 24, 2012 }}

Hagel co-sponsored the failed Kosovo Resolution, authorizing the use of U.S. military force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/106/sconres21|title=S.Con.Res. 21 (106th): Kosovo resolution|publisher=govtrack.us|date=March 3, 1999|access-date= December 24, 2012}}

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hagel voted in favor of Senate Joint Resolution 23, authorizing "necessary and appropriate U.S. Military force" in Afghanistan against those who planned or aided the September 11 attacks.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00281 |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 1st Session |publisher=senate.gov |access-date=December 24, 2012 }} During his tenure in the Senate, Hagel continued his support for NATO involvement, and funding in the War in Afghanistan.{{cite web |url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/231/charles-hagel/22/defense?p=2#.UNlcHW9ZUV0 |title=Charles 'chuck' t. hagel's voting records - defense |publisher=votesmart.org |access-date=December 24, 2012}} In a 2009 The Washington Post op-ed after being nominated as Chairman of President Obama's Intelligence advisory board, Hagel said that "We cannot view U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan through a lens that sees only 'winning' or 'losing,' Iraq and Afghanistan are not America's to win or lose." And that "We can help them buy time or develop, but we cannot control their fates."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/02/AR2009090202856.html?hpid%3Dopinionsbox1|title=Why Going It Alone No Longer Works|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 3, 2009|access-date=December 24, 2012|first=Chuck|last=Hagel}} In 2011, after he left office, Hagel stated that President Obama needs to start "looking for the exit in Afghanistan", and that "We need to start winding this down."{{cite web|url=http://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/chuck-hagel-says-time-to-wind-down-in-afghanistan/article_51442bec-9265-5eaf-a69d-4a84de0a443c.html|title=Chuck Hagel says time to wind down in Afghanistan|work=Lincoln Journal Star|date=May 3, 2011|access-date= December 24, 2012}}

File:Hagel-Karzai-Samar.jpg Hamid Karzai, and Afghan Minister of Women's Affairs Sima Samar]]

On October 11, 2002, Hagel, along with 76 other senators, voted in favor of the Iraq Resolution.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00237 |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 2nd Session|publisher=senate.gov|access-date=December 24, 2012}} Hagel, a later critic of the war, commented on his vote authorizing the use of force against Iraq saying,

How many of us really know and understand much about Iraq, the country, the history, the people, the role in the Arab world? I approach the issue of post-Saddam Iraq and the future of democracy and stability in the Middle East with more caution, realism, and a bit more humility.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-118355122.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309131714/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-118355122.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 9, 2016 |title=Tilting at the Republican windmill Conservative from the U.S. heartland is a party maverick |work=International Herald Tribune |date=February 11, 2006 |access-date=23 January 2015 |author=Lelyveld, Joseph}}

In July 2007, Hagel was one of three Republican senators who supported Democratic-proposed legislation requiring a troop withdrawal from Iraq to begin within 120 days. He told Robert D. Novak "This thing is really coming undone quickly, and [Prime Minister] Maliki's government is weaker by the day. The police are corrupt, top to bottom. The oil problem is a huge problem. They still can't get anything through the parliament—no hydrocarbon law, no de-Baathification law, no provincial elections."Bob Novak, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/29/AR2007042901562.html Hagel's Stand], The Washington Post, April 30, 2007. In 2008, along with then-Senator (and presumptive Democratic nominee for president) Barack Obama, and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Hagel visited Iraq in a congressional delegation trip, meeting with U.S. service members, General David Petraeus, and the Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/us/politics/22obama.html|title=Obama Meets Iraqi Prime Minister in Baghdad|newspaper= nytimes.com|date=July 22, 2008|access-date=December 24, 2012|first1=Richard A. Jr.|last1=Oppel|first2=Alissa J.|last2=Rubin}} While talking to reporters in Iraq, Hagel said, "Each one of us who has a responsibility of helping lead this country needs to reflect on what we think is in the interests of our country, not the interest of our party or our president."{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-24-hagel_N.htm |title=Hagel chides candidates on Iraq |work=USA Today |date=July 24, 2008 |access-date=December 24, 2012}}

In his first term in the Senate, Hagel voted in favor of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Threat Reduction Act, establishing criminal penalties for possession of Chemical or Biological weapons, and he cosponsored the American Missile Protection Act, deploying an effective National Missile Defense system capable of defending the U.S. against limited ballistic missile attacks.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=105&session=1&vote=00045|title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 105th Congress - 1st Session|publisher=senate.gov|access-date= December 24, 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/senate-bill/1873/text/rs|title=S.1873 - American Missile Protection Act of 1998|date=September 9, 1998|publisher=Congress.gov|access-date=December 24, 2012}} Hagel voted to establish the United States Department of Homeland Security, and supported increasing Defense Department spending, voting in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act every year he served in the Senate.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00249|title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 2nd Session|publisher=senate.gov|access-date=December 24, 2012}} Hagel voted for spending increases in preventing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria funding, and voting against caps on the U.S.'s foreign aid budget.{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/bill/6577/21025/231/funding-to-combat-aids-malaria-and-tuberculosis#.UNldwW9ZUV0|title=HR 5501 - FUNDING TO COMBAT AIDS, MALARIA, AND TUBERCULOSIS - KEY VOTE|publisher=votesmart.org|access-date=December 24, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/chuck_hagel.htm|title=Chuck Hagel on Foreign Policy|publisher=ontheissues.org|access-date=December 24, 2012}}

In 2007, Hagel introduced Senate Amendment 2032, amending the Defense Authorization bill limiting the deployment of U.S. service members serving in Iraq to 12 months. The amendment needed 60 votes in the Senate to pass, and was ultimately defeated in a 52–45 vote.{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/amendment/110th-congress/senate-amendment/2032 |title=S.AMDT.2032: To limit the length of deployment of members of the Armed Forced for Operation Iraqi Freedom |date=July 11, 2007 |publisher=Congress.gov}} In 2008, Hagel was a principal co-sponsor with two other veterans in the Senate of Senator Jim Webb's "21st Century GI Bill" which passed Congress as the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, expanding education assistance to veterans who served after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.[http://www.webb.senate.gov/issuesandlegislation/upload/Webb_NewGIBill.pdf Achieving a Post-9/11 GI Bill for Our New Greatest Generation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215230604/http://www.webb.senate.gov/issuesandlegislation/upload/Webb_NewGIBill.pdf |date=December 15, 2012 }}, Senator Jim Webb site, p. 4, accessed December 18, 2012.[http://www.historynet.com/chuck-hagel-leads-50th-anniversary-advisory-group.htm Chuck Hagel Leads 50th Anniversary Advisory Group], Vietnam Magazine, published at History.net November 29, 2012. During his tenure in the Senate, Hagel supported the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, barring openly LGBT members of the armed forces from serving, but was later described as "pro-ending don't ask, don't tell."{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/the-chuck-hagel-i-know-a-staunch-defender-of-gay-rights/266589|title=The Chuck Hagel I Know: A Staunch Defender of Gay Rights|work=The Atlantic |date=December 21, 2012 |access-date= December 24, 2012}}

In 2001, Hagel voted in favor of the Patriot Act.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00313|title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 107th Congress - 1st Session|publisher=senate.gov|access-date=December 24, 2012}} Although Hagel originally indicated a "nay" vote in reauthorizing expiring provisions of the Patriot Act in 2006,{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/20/AR2005122001488.html|title=4 GOP Senators Hold Firm Against Patriot Act Renewal|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 21, 2005|access-date=December 24, 2012|first=Charles|last=Babington}} Hagel voted in favor of reauthorization.{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/109-2006/s29|title=H.R. 3199 (109th): USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (On the Conference Report)b |publisher=govtrack.us|date=March 2, 2006|access-date=December 24, 2012}} After calls from the Bush administration for the House and Senate to reform FISA, the House introduced the Protect America Act of 2007, expanding provisions allowing electronic surveillance of foreigners outside of the U.S. with a warrant. In a 68–29 vote, the Protect America Act of 2007 passed the Senate, with Hagel voting to expand FISA's provisions on warrantless surveillance.{{cite web |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/110-2007/s309 |title=S. 1927 (110th): Protect America Act of 2007 (On Passage of the Bill) |publisher=govtrack.us |date=August 3, 2007 |access-date=December 24, 2012}}

Hagel voted in favor of Senate Amendment 2022, restoring habeas corpus, the right to due process, to American citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, but voted against a similar resolution restoring it to all prisoners detained at Guantanamo.{{cite web |url=http://votesmart.org/bill/5606/15833/231/habeas-corpus-for-detainees-of-the-united-states#.UNlKT29ZUV0 |title=S amdt 2022 - habeas corpus for detainees of the united states - key vote |publisher=votesmart.org |access-date=December 24, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/bill/5606/15833/231/habeas-corpus-for-detainees-of-the-united-states#.UNlKT29ZUV0 |title=S AMDT 2022 - HABEAS CORPUS FOR DETAINEES OF THE UNITED STATES - KEY VOTE |publisher=votesmart.org |access-date=December 24, 2012 }} In response to the Bush administration's intentions to keep Guantanamo Bay open permanently, Hagel said the military prison is why the U.S. is "losing the image war around the world," and that "It's identifiable with, for right or wrong, a part of America that people in the world believe is a power, an empire that pushes people around, we do it our way, we don't live up to our commitments to multilateral institutions."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061201265.html |title=Cheney: U.S. Not Aiming To Close Guantanamo |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 13, 2005 |access-date=December 24, 2012 |first=Marc |last=Kaufman}}

Hagel co-sponsored the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006.[https://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN02611:@@@L&summ2=m& Bill Summary & Status, 109th Congress (2005 - 2006), S.2611], THOMAS database, Library of Congress, accessed December 18, 2012. He supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 and, with Senator Bob Menendez proposed an amendment to allow immigration authorities to consider family-unification petitions submitted by people for an additional two years, which would have allowed approximately estimated 833,000 additional individuals to seek permanent residency. The proposal received 51 votes but was defeated by a procedural maneuver.Bill Cahir, [http://blog.pennlive.com/lehighvalley/2007/06/senate_immigration_bill_a_stud.html Senate immigration bill a study in complexities and contention], The Patriot-News, June 8, 2007. The bill failed to pass.{{cite web|last=Marre|first=Klaus|title=46-53, immigration bill goes down in defeat|work=The Hill|publisher=Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.|date=June 28, 2007|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/news/10035-46-53-immigration-bill-goes-down-in-defeat/|access-date=October 30, 2009}} Hagel voted in favor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which aimed to build a {{convert|700|mi|km|adj=on}} double fence along the Mexico–United States border and appropriated $1.2 billion for the fence and a systematic surveillance system.{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00262 |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session |publisher=senate.gov |access-date=December 24, 2012 }}

• Committee on Foreign Relations
• Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
• Subcommittee on African Affairs
• Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
• Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
• Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment
• Subcommittee on Financial Institutions (Ranking Member)
• Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
• Select Committee on Intelligence
• Committee on Rules and Administration

On August 18, 2005, Hagel compared the Iraq War to Vietnam, and openly mocked Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes."[http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/18/hagel.iraq/ "Hagel: Iraq growing more like Vietnam; Republican Senator says Bush should meet with protesting mom"]. Politics. CNN, online edition, August 18, 2005. Retrieved March 4, 2007. In November 2005, Hagel defended his criticism of the Iraq war, stating "To question your government is not unpatriotic — to not question your government is unpatriotic."Glenn Kessler, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/15/AR2005111501450.html Hagel Defends Criticisms of Iraq Policy], The Washington Post, November 16, 2005. In December 2005, in reference to Bush, the Republican Party, and the Patriot Act, Hagel stated "I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president."Babington, Charles. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/20/AR2005122001488.html?nav=rss_print/asection "4 GOP Senators Hold Firm Against Patriot Act Renewal More Safeguards Needed, They Say"]. The Washington Post, online edition, December 21, 2005, p. A04. Retrieved March 4, 2007.

File:Chuck Hagel Iraq 5.jpg, during a 2008 visit to U.S. Service members in Iraq]]

In January 2006, Hagel took issue with Karl Rove's statement that the Republican and Democratic worldviews were "post-9/11" and "pre-9/11", respectively. Hagel stated, "I didn't like what Mr. Rove said, because it frames terrorism and the issue of terrorism and everything that goes with it, whether it's the renewal of the Patriot Act or the NSA wiretapping, in a political context."UPI. [http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/01/30/Hagel-takes-issue-with-Rove/UPI-30581138597905/ "Hagel takes issue with Rove"]. United Press International, online edition, January 30, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2007.

In July 2006, Hagel criticized the Bush administration on its handling of the 2006 Lebanon War, saying "The sickening slaughter on both sides must end and it must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate cease-fire. This madness must stop." He also said "Our relationship with Israel is special and historic... But it need not and cannot be at the expense of our Arab and Muslim relationships. That is an irresponsible and dangerous false choice."[http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/31/hagel.mideast/index.html "Key Republican breaks with Bush on Mideast; Nebraska's Sen. Hagel calls for immediate cease-fire"], CNN, online edition, July 31, 2006, accessed December 20, 2012.

Following heavy Republican losses in the 2006 midterm election, Hagel penned an editorial in The Washington Post highly critical of military strategies both employed and proposed for Iraq. He wrote that "There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq," and called for a "phased troop withdrawal."[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401104.html "Leaving Iraq, Honorably"]. The Washington Post, Opinion by Senator C. Hagel, p. B07, online edition. November 26, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2007. According to a SurveyUSA poll, in August 2006 Hagel had a 10% higher approval rating among Nebraska Democrats than Republicans.[http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=94ea1bee-bd97-46f6-a3e8-82343c79d696 News Poll #9977]. SurveyUSA. August 15, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2007.[http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Chuck_Hagel.htm Profile Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel (Republican Jr Senator)]. On the Issues, Retrieved March 4, 2007.

In January 2007, Hagel openly criticized President Bush's plan to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq. He called it "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it's carried out."Barrett, Ted. [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/11/iraq.congress/index.html "GOP senator: Bush plan could match Vietnam blunder"], CNN, online edition, January 11, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2007. Together with Democrats Joe Biden and Carl Levin, he proposed a non-binding resolution to the Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which rejected Bush's policy as "not in the national interest" in a 12–9 vote.BBC. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6296397.stm "US Senate panel rejects Iraq plan"]. BBC News, online edition, Americas, January 24, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2007 After an April 2007 visit to Iraq with U.S. congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA), Hagel stated his belief that the occupation of Iraq should not continue indefinitely and expressed his intention to cooperate with Senate Democrats in voting for a bill that would set a timeline to get out of Iraq.Barrett, Ted. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070819031305/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/17/dems-plan-senate-all-nighter/ "Dems Plan Senate All-nighter"]. CNN, Political Ticker blog, July 16, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2007.

In November 2007, he rated the Bush administration "the lowest in capacity, in capability, in policy, in consensus—almost every area" of any presidency in the last forty years.{{cite web |last=Haass |first=Richard N. |date=November 28, 2007 |url=http://www.cfr.org/iran/conversation-chuck-hagel-rush-transcript-federal-news-service/p14895/conversation_with_chuck_hagel_rush_transcript_federal_news_service.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpublication%2Fby_type%2Ftranscript |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414112318/http://www.cfr.org/iran/conversation-chuck-hagel-rush-transcript-federal-news-service/p14895/conversation_with_chuck_hagel_rush_transcript_federal_news_service.html?breadcrumb=/publication/by_type/transcript |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 14, 2013 |title=A Conversation with Chuck Hagel (Federal News Service FNS rush transcript) |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=March 23, 2008 }}

In the 2008 presidential election, Hagel was seen as a likely choice to hold a top cabinet position in a future John McCain or Barack Obama administration. In 2006, McCain told The New York Times that he would be "honored to have Chuck with me in any capacity. He'd make a great Secretary of State."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12hagel.html?pagewanted=all |title=The Heartland Dissident |author=Joseph Lelyveld |work=The New York Times |date=February 12, 2006 |access-date=February 19, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/27/republican_senators_were_for_hagel_before_they_were_against_him |title=Republican senators were for Hagel, before they were against him |author=Josh Rogin |work=Foreign Policy |date=December 27, 2012 |access-date=February 19, 2013 |archive-date=December 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212155702/http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/27/republican_senators_were_for_hagel_before_they_were_against_him |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/opinion/avlon-hagel |title=A reality check for Chuck Hagel bashers |author=Josh Avlon |publisher=CNN |date=January 31, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2013}}

Hagel was rumored to be a possible running mate for vice president for then Senator Barack Obama, in his 2008 presidential campaign.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5390306&page=1 |title=Rules Stacked Against Bi-Partisan Ticket |author=Jan Crawford |work=ABC News |date=July 17, 2008}}{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/28/chuck-hagel-obamas-vice-p_n_115448.html |title=Chuck Hagel: Obama's Vice President? |author=Rachel Weiner |work=The Huffington Post |date=July 28, 2008}} On June 20, 2008, Hagel said he would consider running with Obama if offered the VP spot, though he added that he did not believe that Obama would pick him for the position.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hagel-says-hed-consider-an-obama-vp-offer/ |title=Hagel Says He'd Consider An Obama VP Offer |author=Scott Conroy |work=CBS News |date=July 20, 2008}}Anna Jo Bratton, [https://www.azcentral.com/news/election/election08/articles/2008/06/20/20080620bama0620hagel.html "Hagel says he'd consider VP offer from Obama"], Associated Press, via The Arizona Republic online, June 20, 2008. At the time he also was mentioned as a potential United States Secretary of Defense to succeed incumbent Robert Gates in the Obama administration.{{cite news |first=Mike |last=Madden |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/17/hagel_veep/ |title=And Obama's veep is ... a Republican?|work=Salon |date=June 17, 2008 |access-date=June 17, 2008}}[http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/03/possible.dems.vps/index.html Who will be Obama's running mate], Senators section, CNN, June 4, 2008, accessed December 18, 2012 Hagel said that he would consider serving if asked.{{cite web|title=Republican ready to serve as Obama's vice-president|url=http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/mhgbgbidojcw/|publisher=Breaking News|date=June 25, 2008|access-date=June 25, 2008}}

Hagel and Senator John McCain were close friends until 2007 when they diverged regarding Iraq policy; Hagel did not endorse McCain for President in the 2008 Republican primaries or in the general election.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/03/081103fa_fact_bruck?currentPage=4 |title=THE POLITICAL SCENE ODD MAN OUTChuck Hagel's Republican exile. |author=Connie Bruck |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 3, 2008 |access-date=February 18, 2013}}Elisabeth Bumiller, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/us/politics/mccain-and-hagel-once-friends-and-now-estranged.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130112 "Veterans and Senate Buddies, Until Another War Split Them," The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2013] Explaining his reason for not endorsing John McCain in the 2008 election, Hagel told The New Yorker, "In good conscience, I could not enthusiastically—honestly—go out and endorse him, when we so fundamentally disagree on the future course of our foreign policy and our role in the world."{{cite news |url=http://www.newser.com/story/41055/foreign-policy-drove-wedge-between-hagel-mccain.html |title=Foreign Policy Drove Wedge Between Hagel, McCain FELLOW GOP SENATORS AND VIETNAM VETS 'FUNDAMENTALLY DISAGREE' ON KEY ISSUES |publisher=The New Yorker / newser.com |author=Kevin Spark |newspaper=Newser |date=October 28, 2008 |access-date=February 18, 2013}} In August 2008, Hagel indicated that he would not endorse either candidate or get involved in their campaigns.Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence, [http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/08/sen-hagel-wont.html "Sen. Hagel won't be endorsing a presidential candidate"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080823133242/http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/08/sen-hagel-wont.html |date=August 23, 2008 }}, August 12, 2008, USA Today{{'}}s On Politics blog.

During his first campaign, Hagel indicated that, were he to be elected, he would retire in 2008 after two terms in the Senate.{{cite news |url=http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/03/ |title=A Hagel Hint? |work=The Hotline |publisher=National Journal Group |date=March 9, 2007 |access-date=March 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306013237/http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/03/ |archive-date=March 6, 2008 |url-status=dead }} In August 2004 Hagel acknowledged that he was considering a presidential campaign in 2008.Linda Feldmann, [http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0901/p01s01-uspo.html A search for GOP's heirs apparent], The Christian Science Monitor, September 1, 2004. In 2006 he cooperated with Charlyne Berens who wrote a biography titled Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward.{{cite web |first=Charlyne |last=Berens |url=http://unp.unl.edu/bookinfo/5106.html |title=Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward |publisher=University of Nebraska Press, 2006 |access-date=January 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516173535/http://unp.unl.edu/bookinfo/5106.html |archive-date=May 16, 2007 |url-status=dead }} On September 10, 2007, Hagel announced that he would retire and not seek a third term. Hagel also remains the last person to serve two full terms in Nebraska's Class 2 Senate seat. He also declined to run for president in 2008. He decided to go into academia.{{cite news |first=Anna Jo |last=Bratton |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3580692 |title=Sen. Hagel leaving Congress after '08 |work=ABC News |date=September 10, 2007 |access-date=December 18, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvilcCCsR3MwCBy3wQT1Fzyde98w |title=AFP: Anti-war Republican and presidential hopeful Hagel to retire |publisher=AFP |date=September 10, 2007 |access-date=August 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707023000/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvilcCCsR3MwCBy3wQT1Fzyde98w |archive-date=July 7, 2012 }}{{cite news|last=Rucker |first=Philip |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/02/hagel_to_teach_at_georgetown.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224024943/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/02/hagel_to_teach_at_georgetown.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 24, 2013 |title=Hagel To Teach at Georgetown |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 3, 2009 |access-date=December 23, 2012}}

File:Defense.gov photo essay 120509-D-NI589-090.jpg, May 9, 2012.]]

In Hagel's 2008 book, America: Our Next Chapter: Tough Questions, Straight Answers (with Peter Kaminsky), he suggests that the United States should adopt independent leadership and possibly another political party. He also believes that the Iraq War is one of the five biggest blunders in U.S. history. Hagel is critical of George W. Bush's foreign policy, calling it "reckless." He has been a major critic of the war since it started, and has stated that the United States should learn from its mistakes in the Vietnam War. He considered Bush's foreign policy a "ping pong game with American lives."{{cite news|last=Grieve |first=Tim |url=http://www.salon.com/2007/01/24/iraq_204/ |title=A ping-pong game with American lives |work=Salon |date=January 24, 2007 |access-date=December 23, 2012}}

Following Hagel's retirement from the Senate, in February 2009 he accepted a position as Distinguished Professor in National Governance at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.{{cite web|title=Senator Hagel joins The Walsh School of Foreign Service|url=http://mortara.georgetown.edu/80731.html|publisher=Mortara Center for International Studies, Georgetown University|access-date=January 11, 2013|date=March 18, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609061350/http://mortara.georgetown.edu/80731.html|archive-date=June 9, 2010|url-status=dead}} He was chairman of the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank; co-chairman of President Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board; a member of the Defense Department's Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee and the Energy Departments Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future; a member of The Washington Center's board of directors; and a member of the Public Broadcasting Service's board of directors. In the private sector, he served on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation, Deutsche Bank's Americas Advisory Board, and the advisory board of Corsair Capital, and was a director of the Zurich Holding Company of America and a senior advisor to McCarthy Capital Corporation.{{cite web |url=http://www.acus.org/users/chuck-hagel |title=Chuck Hagel |publisher=Atlantic Council |access-date=August 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112211245/http://www.acus.org/users/chuck-hagel |archive-date=January 12, 2013 }} In October 2012, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta asked Hagel to chair an advisory committee for the Vietnam War 50th anniversary commemoration. While a Senator, Hagel co-sponsored the bill creating the commemoration committee.

Hagel identifies with Ronald Reagan's nuclear disarmament policies and was an initial signatory to the Global Zero campaign which advocates the international elimination of nuclear weaponry.{{cite web|url=http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/11/hagel_reagan_wouldn_t_identify_with_today_s_gop |title=Hagel: Reagan wouldn't identify with today's GOP |work=Foreign Policy |date=May 11, 2012 |access-date=July 5, 2013}}{{cite news|author=Ryan Grim |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/chuck-hagel-nuclear-weapons_n_2528590.html |title=Chuck Hagel Would Be 'Excellent' Defense Secretary On Nuclear Weapons: Ellen Tauscher |work=The Huffington Post |date=January 22, 2013 |access-date=July 5, 2013}} He also served on the board of the Ploughshares Fund, which pursues the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and seeks to prevent their use.{{cite web |url=http://www.ploughshares.org/who-we-are/board/senator-chuck-hagel |title=Ploughshares Fund |publisher=Ploughshares.org |access-date=July 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220021008/http://www.ploughshares.org/who-we-are/board/senator-chuck-hagel |archive-date=December 20, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

In 2010, Hagel endorsed Democratic Pennsylvania congressman Joe Sestak in his run for the United States Senate.Shira Toeplitz, [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41370.html "Sestak gets nod from Hagel"], Politico, August 23, 2010 In 2012 he endorsed Democrat Bob Kerrey in the race for an open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska.Kevin Robillard, [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83148.html?hp=l3 Report: "Chuck Hagel to endorse Bob Kerrey"], Politico, November 1, 2012.Humberto Sanchez, [http://atr.rollcall.com/nebraska-bob-kerrey-nabs-chuck-hagel-endorsement/ "Nebraska: Bob Kerrey Nabs Chuck Hagel Endorsement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102143436/http://atr.rollcall.com/nebraska-bob-kerrey-nabs-chuck-hagel-endorsement/ |date=January 2, 2013 }}, Roll Call, November 1, 2012.

File:Defense.gov News Photo 120509-D-NI589-439 - Former Sen. Chuck Hagel shakes hands with Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta shortly before Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.jpg, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, and former Virginia Senator John Warner]]

File:Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel meets with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy in Cairo, Egypt, April 24, 2013.jpg and General al-Sisi in Cairo, April 24, 2013]]

File:SecDef visits Israel - May 15-16, 2014 140516-D-BW835-062 (14218022133).jpg in Jerusalem, May 16, 2014]]

File:2014 U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagle & Japan's Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera at the Pentagon 美國國防部長黑格與日本防衛大臣小野寺五典在五角大廈.jpg Chuck Hagel presents Japan's minister of defense Itsunori Onodera with a University of Nebraska Omaha tennis shirt at the joint press availability at the United States Department of Defense Washington, DC on July 11, 2014. DoD photo taken by Casper Manlangit (Released)]]

President Obama nominated Hagel to succeed Leon Panetta and serve as his second term Secretary of Defense on January 7, 2013.Scott Wilson and William Branigin, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/officials-obama-to-nominate-hagel-for-defense-brennan-for-cia/2013/01/07/22db7d4e-58c2-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html "Obama nominates Chuck Hagel for Defense, John Brennan for CIA"], January 7, 2013, The Washington Post Hagel, who became, upon confirmation, the first former enlisted combat soldier to hold the office of Secretary of Defense, was interviewed by the Senate Armed Services Committee during a seven-and-a-half-hour hearing on January 31, 2013.Elizabether Bumiller,[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/us/politics/sharp-exchanges-expected-in-hearing-on-hagel-nomination.html?_r=0#h "Hagel Has Rough Outing Before Ex-Colleagues"], The New York Times, January 31, 2013.

{{overly detailed|date=May 2015|section=yes}}

According to Jon Swaine writing in The Daily Telegraph, Hagel has been accused of having "views [that] verged on anti-Semitic" due to his stating in a 2006 interview with Aaron David Miller that "[t]he Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people [on Capitol Hill]",Jon Swaine (January 6, 2013), [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9784034/Chuck-Hagel-to-face-questions-over-Israel-views-ahead-of-defence-secretary-nomination.html Chuck Hagel 'to face questions' over Israel views ahead of defence secretary nomination] The Daily Telegraph and "I'm not an Israeli senator. I'm a United States senator."Yitzhak Benhorin, [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4321305,00.html US: Hagel nomination irks pro-Israel conservatives], Ynetnews, December 18, 2012. Hagel later clarified these remarks saying he was referring to the Israel lobby.Rachael Weiner (January 31, 2013), [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/01/31/hagel-regrets-words-on-jewish-lobby/ Hagel regrets words on Jewish lobby] The Washington Post Hagel also has been criticized by the American Jewish Committee for an incident in 1999 where he was the only senator not to sign an open letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin threatening to cut aid to Russia if it did not take action against rising anti-Semitism in the country.{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/prospect-of-hagel-nomination-sets-off-alarm-bells-for-some-u-s-jews-1.485835|title=Prospect of Hagel nomination sets off alarm bells for some U.S. Jews|date=December 19, 2012|work=Haaretz|access-date=January 8, 2013}} However, Hagel's refusal to sign the letter was consistent with his policy of never signing letters to foreign heads of state. Hagel, instead, wrote to Bill Clinton on this issue, saying "Anti-Semitism or any form of religious persecution should never be tolerated."{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/why-chuck-hagel-didnt-sign-that-1999-letter-again|title=Why Chuck Hagel Didn't Sign That 1999 Letter Against Russian Anti-Semitism|publisher=BuzzFeed|date=January 7, 2013}}

Hagel was criticized by The Christian Science Monitor and many Republicans, including senator John McCain, for opposing some sanctions against Iran, and for calling for dialogue with Iran and Hamas.Anna Mulrine, [http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2012/1227/Chuck-Hagel-why-his-candidacy-for-Defense-post-is-losing-altitude Chuck Hagel: why his candidacy for Defense post is losing altitude], The Christian Science Monitor, December 27, 2012.[https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-hagel-profile-20130114,0,3529852.story Chuck Hagel's opponents switched gears] by Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2013.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/chuck-hagel-and-israel-in-context-a-guide-to-his-controversial-statements/2013/01/07/be1cc3f8-591c-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_blog.html "Chuck Hagel and Israel in context: A guide to his controversial statements"] by Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post, January 8, 2013.

Some of Hagel's policy positions became the subject of heated debate in the Senate, including support of defense cuts, opposition to preemptive action against Iran, and support of talks with Hamas and Hezbollah. However, U.S. News & World Report cited public opinion polls and foreign policy experts to suggest that Hagel's views were within the mainstream of American foreign policy thought.*Heather Hurlburt, [https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2012/12/20/chuck-hagel-is-mainstream-enough-to-be-secretary-of-defnse Chuck Hagel Is Mainstream Enough To Be Secretary of Defense], U.S. News & World Report, December 20, 2012. *[http://www.cfr.org/congress-and-foreign-policy/hbo-history-makers-chuck-hagel/p25274 HBO History Makers with Chuck Hagel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116182410/http://www.cfr.org/congress-and-foreign-policy/hbo-history-makers-chuck-hagel/p25274 |date=January 16, 2013 }} Council on Foreign Relations June 14, 2012 Opponents also complained of Hagel's 2011 call to have the Pentagon "pared down", saying that "[t]he Defense Department, I think in many ways, has been bloated."Stephanie Kirchgaessne (December 19, 2012), [http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ed0ed5a8-4a11-11e2-a7b1-00144feab49a.html#axzz2Fj9fpegi FT interview with Chuck Hagel] Financial Times

The Human Rights Campaign criticized Hagel for having a "consistent anti-LGBT" voting record in the Senate and for opposing President Bill Clinton's nomination of James Hormel as the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, stating that Hormel was "openly, aggressively gay." The group demanded that Hagel apologize for this 1998 remark.{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121220/us-defense-hagel/ |title=Gay rights group challenges Hagel comments |work=The Huffingon Post |date=December 20, 2012 |access-date=December 28, 2012 }} The Log Cabin Republicans ran full-page newspaper ads opposing Hagel's nomination.{{cite web |url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/2012/12/28/log-cabin-republicans-slam-chuck-hagel |title=Log Cabin Republicans Slam Chuck Hagel in Full-Page Ad |work=The Advocate |date=December 28, 2012 |access-date=December 28, 2012 }}Natalie Jennings (January 7, 2013),[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/01/07/log-cabin-republicans-run-another-anti-hagel-ad/ Log Cabin Republicans run another anti-Hagel ad] The Washington Post Post Politics blog. Hagel apologized to Hormel in December 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/12/hormel-questions-sincerity-of-hagel-apology-152687.html |title=Hormel questions sincerity of Hagel apology |publisher=politico.com |date=December 22, 2012 |access-date=December 28, 2012}} On January 24, 2013, Senator Jeanne Shaheen stated that Hagel will oppose restrictions on LGBT military family benefits.{{cite web |url=http://www.shaheen.senate.gov/news/press/release/?id=33016819-1933-4141-abac-e53dc9aea4eb |title=SHAHEEN ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR HAGEL NOMINATION |publisher=shaheen.senate.gov |date=January 24, 2013 |access-date=January 24, 2013}}{{cite news |title=Sen. Shaheen backs Hagel for Secretary of Defense |work=New Hampshire Union Leader |date=January 24, 2013 |url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130124/NEWS06/130129499 |access-date=January 26, 2013}} Shortly thereafter, on February 13, 2013, the Senate's first openly LGBT member, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) stated that after meeting with Hagel, she would support his nomination.{{cite news |title=Tammy Baldwin Supports Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary |work=The Advocate |date=February 13, 2013 |url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/02/13/tammy-baldwin-supports-chuck-hagel-sec-defense|access-date=March 19, 2013}}

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina predicted that Hagel would be "the most antagonistic Secretary of Defense toward the State of Israel in our nation's history" and called it an "in-your-face nomination."{{cite news |last=Gold |first=Matea |url= https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-hagel-20130107,0,2775614.story|title=Critics slam Chuck Hagel's likely nomination as Defense secretary|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 7, 2013 |date=January 6, 2013}}

The New York Times reported that the media campaign opposing Hagel's appointment was financed by new groups including a conservative group, Americans for a Strong Defense and a gay rights group, Use Your Mandate. The donors of these groups were mostly anonymous and running advertisements on issues raised by critics. The Times described the campaign as "unmatched in the annals of modern presidential cabinet appointments".{{cite news|author=Jim Rutenberg|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/us/politics/secret-donors-finance-fight-against-hagel.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=Secret Donors Finance Fight Against Hagel|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 26, 2013|access-date=May 17, 2014}}

In December 2012, nine former United States ambassadors, including five former ambassadors to Israel, wrote a letter in support of nominating Hagel.Kevin Bacon, [http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/20/ambassadors_open_letter_backs_hagel Former ambassadors open letter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141119050823/http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/20/ambassadors_open_letter_backs_hagel |date=November 19, 2014 }}, Foreign Policy, December 20, 2012.[https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/20/friends_of_chuck_the_case_for_hagel_begins_why_the_qdr_may_be_significant_how_ho Friends of Chuck: the case for Hagel begins] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605023527/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/20/friends_of_chuck_the_case_for_hagel_begins_why_the_qdr_may_be_significant_how_ho |date=June 5, 2013 }} Foreign Policy December 20, 2012 Brent Scowcroft, Anthony Zinni and nine other retired senior military officers signed a separate letter of support.[http://images.politico.com/global/2012/12/20/regarding_hage_for_secdef_from_admirals_and_generals.html December 21, 2012 letter in support of Chuck Hagel], reprinted in Politico, accessed January 10, 2013. Robert Gates and Colin Powell also endorsed Hagel for the nomination, with Powell calling him "that kind of independent and bold leader who thinks in and out of the box" who can "deal with the strategic and resource challenges [the Department of Defense] will be facing over the next several years."{{cite news|url=http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/07/gates_endorses_hagel|title=Gates, Powell endorse Hagel|date=January 7, 2013|first=Kevin|last=Baron|work=Foreign Policy|access-date=November 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530090842/http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/07/gates_endorses_hagel|archive-date=May 30, 2013|url-status=dead}} Rabbi Aryeh Azriel, the senior rabbi at Temple Israel in Omaha, Nebraska since 1988, wrote in a CNN article that "[Hagel's] record shows strong support for Israel" and that Hagel understands "the Israeli people and their desire to live in peace and security." He added that "Recent efforts to smear Chuck ... ultimately that hurts the long-term security of the state of Israel."[http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/13/opinion/azriel-hagel-israel/ "Chuck Hagel is a friend to Israel"] by Aryeh Azriel, Special to CNN, January 14, 2013.

Defenses of Hagel have included opinion pieces by writers Amy Davidson,[https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/12/behind-the-ugly-attacks-on-hagel.html Behind the Ugly Attacks on Chuck Hagel], The New Yorker, December 23, 2012. Thomas Friedman,Thomas Friedman, [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/opinion/friedman-give-chuck-a-chance.html?ref=opinion Give Chuck a chance], The New York Times, December 25, 2012. and Robert Wright, with Wright objecting to what he called "McCarthyite" smears against Hagel.Robert Wright, [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/chuck-hagel-gets-his-second-wind/266631/ Chuck Hagel Gets His Second Wind], December 26, 2012 Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of the liberal lobby group J Street, said: "The notion that Chuck Hagel is anti-Israel is ludicrous. The notion that he is anti-Semitic is slanderous." Harvard University Professor Stephen Walt, co-author of a 2007 book critical of the Israeli lobby wrote in Foreign Policy that "The real meaning of the Hagel affair is what it says about the climate inside Washington. Simply put, the question is whether supine and reflexive support for all things Israeli remains a prerequisite for important policy positions here in the Land of the Free."Stephen Walt, [http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/26/whats_at_stake_in_the_hagel_affair What's at stake in the Hagel affair] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230051235/http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/26/whats_at_stake_in_the_hagel_affair |date=December 30, 2012 }}, Foreign Policy, December 26, 2012.

Commentators at The American ConservativeDaniel Larison (December 19, 2012), [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-attempted-borking-of-chuck-hagel/ The Attempted Borking of Chuck Hagel] The American ConservativeW. James Antle III (December 24, 2012), [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/somehow-a-republican/ Somehow a Republican] The American ConservativeScott McConnell (January 7, 2013), [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/hagel-in-historys-cockpit/ Hagel in History's Cockpit] The American Conservative and Pat BuchananPat Buchanan (December 28, 2012), [http://buchanan.org/blog/why-the-war-party-fears-hagel-5443 Why the War Party Fears Hagel] buchanan.org endorsed Hagel. Hagel's nomination received support from Antiwar.com founder Justin Raimondo and the libertarian think tank Cato Institute;Christopher A. Preble (December 13, 2012), [http://www.cato.org/blog/chuck-hagel-would-be-excellent-secretary-defense Chuck Hagel Would Be an Excellent Secretary of Defense], Cato Institute Justin Logan, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, expressed the hope that Hagel's confirmation might "loosen the neoconservative stranglehold on the GOP."Justin Logan (January 7, 2013), [http://www.cato.org/blog/why-americans-should-care-about-hagel-nomination Why Americans Should Care about the Hagel Nomination], Cato Institute

File:Barack Obama announces new defense secretary Chuck Hagel.jpg with President Barack Obama, after announcing his nomination of Chuck Hagel as the next Defense Secretary at the White House, January 7, 2013.]]

During his Senate hearing opening statement Hagel said that he endorsed use of American military power, supported Israel and supported using special operations forces and unmanned combat aerial vehicles ("drones") on terrorist groups in Yemen, Somalia and North Africa. He stated "I believe, and always have, that America must engage—not retreat—in the world". During the hearing he explained his 2001 and 2002 votes against unilateral American sanctions on Iran as being for strategic reasons. He said he supported President Obama's drawing down troops in Afghanistan and said he would do "everything possible under current law" to support gay and women service members equal benefits and combat roles.[http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1368 Transcript: Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Nomination of Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense], submitted by Robert Naiman on February 1, 2013, at Justforeignpolicy.org, accessed February 10, 2013.

Hagel faced sharp questioning from Republicans. Senator John McCain berated him for refusing to give a yes or no answer to the question of whether the Iraq War troop surge of 2007 was a success. Senator Lindsey Graham demanded he "name one dumb thing we've been goaded into doing because of the pressure from the Israeli or Jewish lobby." Hagel stated "I've already said I regret referencing the Jewish lobby, I should have said, 'pro-Israel lobby. ... The use of 'intimidation'—I should have used 'influence.' I think that would have been more appropriate. I should not have said 'dumb' or 'stupid,' because I understand or appreciate there are other views on these things.".[http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/01/31/3118426/hagel-in-hearings-expands-on-lobby-apology "In hearings, Chuck Hagel expands on 'Jewish lobby' apology"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203111523/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/01/31/3118426/hagel-in-hearings-expands-on-lobby-apology |date=February 3, 2013 }}, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), January 31, 2013. Senator Ted Cruz played video excerpts from a 2009 Al Jazeera interview and asserted that Hagel had agreed with a caller who suggested that Israel had committed war crimes. Hagel denied he agreed with that view. After the hearing, Cruz organized a letter from 25 Republican senators saying they would not vote until Hagel gave them copies of speeches given to organizations and told them the amount he was paid and whether the organizations received money from foreign sources. Lindsey Graham said they wanted to know if he spoke for any "anti-Israel" groups. Senate Committee chair Carl Levin said the demands were unprecedented, asking "for information no prior nominee has been asked for," and expressed confidence Hagel would be approved by the Senate.Laura Litvan, [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-07/levin-says-committee-will-vote-on-hagel-as-soon-as-possible.html "Levin Says Committee Will Vote on Hagel as Soon as Possible"], Bloomberg L.P., February 7, 2013.Jeremy Herb, [https://thehill.com/policy/defense/141557-levin-hagel-demands-unprecedented/ "Levin: Hagel demands unprecedented"], The Hill, February 7, 2013.

Despite the committee's February 12, 2013, 14-to-11 vote to approve Hagel, committee member James Inhofe vowed to use procedural tactics to delay a full Senate confirmation vote.Jeremy W. Peters, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/us/politics/hagel-faces-tense-panel-vote-on-his-pentagon-confirmation.html?_r=0 Hagel Nomination Clears Panel After Combative Debate], The New York Times, February 12, 2013. Inhofe told the National Review "Each day that goes by will make it more difficult for Democrats who say they are pro-Israel to hold out."{{cite news |url=http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/12/16937109-congress-hagel-committee-vote-set?lite |title=Congress: Hagel committee vote set |work=NBC News |date=February 12, 2013}} On February 14 Republicans refused to close debate on Hagel's nomination, which would require 60 votes, even though the nomination was assured the simple majority of votes needed to pass. Reasons given included a demand for more White House information about the 2012 Benghazi attack, remaining questions about Hagel's views on Iran and Israel, and assertions two weeks after the hearings was insufficient time. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Republicans were politically motivatedPatricia Zengerle, [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-obama-nominations-hagel-idUSBRE91C1K320130214 Democrats decry delay in vote for Hagel as defense chief], Reuters, February 14, 2013. and that the vote would proceed after the recess.Susan Davis and David Jackson, [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/02/14/hagel-senate-defense-filibuster/1920525/ Senate blocks Hagel nomination - for now], USA Today, February 14, 2013.

Senate Republicans successfully filibustered his nomination after a cloture vote failed 58–40 with one present and one not voting. This filibuster marked the first time a nominee for Secretary of Defense was successfully filibustered.{{cite web |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 1st Session|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00021}}

The Senate voted 71-27 for cloture on Hagel's nomination on February 26, 2013.{{cite news |title=Senate Allows Nomination Of Chuck Hagel To Move Forward|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/26/172971326/senate-allows-nomination-of-chuck-hagel-to-move-forward |newspaper=NPR |date=February 26, 2013 |access-date=February 26, 2013|last1=Peralta |first1=Eyder }}{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00023 |title=Senate Roll Call |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=July 5, 2013}} Later that day the Senate voted to make Hagel the Secretary of Defense by a vote of 58–41.{{cite news|title=Chuck Hagel confirmed as US defence secretary by Senate|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21591701#TWEET628889|publisher=BBC|access-date=February 26, 2013|date=February 27, 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00024 |title=Senate Roll Call |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=July 5, 2013}}

The hearings were criticized in the media. In Time magazine Brandon Friedman presented a chart showing that Israel was mentioned 106 times while Afghanistan was mentioned only 24 times; nuclear-armed Pakistan was barely mentioned. Friedman asked if the Senate committee was more concerned with Hagel's "relationship with Israel than with the future of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the fate of U.S. troops engaged in both locations."Brandon Friedman, [https://nation.time.com/2013/02/04/just-who-do-they-represent-at-hagel-hearing-concern-for-israel-tops-u-s-troops-in-combat/ Just Who Do They Represent: At Hagel Hearing, Concern for Israel Tops U.S. Troops in Combat], Time magazine, February 4, 2013. A Michael McGough Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times was titled "Hagel hearings: Is Israel more important than Afghanistan?"Michael McGough, [https://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-hagel-hearings-israel-afghanistan-20130207,0,5869190.story Hagel hearings: Is Israel more important than Afghanistan?], Los Angeles Times, February 7, 2013. Gene Healy in Reason called the hearings "farcical" and wrote there was "plenty of bloviating, grandstanding and browbeating—but, apparently, not enough time for serious deliberation over key policy questions facing any new Pentagon chief."Gene Healy, [http://washingtonexaminer.com/gene-healy-chuck-hagels-farcical-hearings/article/2520509 Gene Healy: Chuck Hagel's farcical hearings], Reason, February 4, 2013.

Mark Mardell, the BBC News North America editor, criticized the "whole process, which has been used not to examine a candidate's fitness for high office, but to underline the rather obvious fact that the Obama administration does not share the world view of Republican senators, and they don't like their former colleague joining it."{{cite news |title=Chuck Hagel's hectoring aimed at Obama| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21280212 |first=Mark |last=Mardell|author-link=Mark Mardell |date=January 31, 2013 |work=BBC News|access-date=February 26, 2013}} Mardell noted the senators repeatedly "insisted he gave a simple 'yes' or 'no' to complex questions. These are old men who hold themselves in high regard, but seem to see serious examination of difficult problems as a personal affront. They desperately want to play 'gotcha', but haven't the self-restraint to design effective questions." Mardell called Senator Hagel "equally unimpressive, almost unprepared, for a level of hostility that had been signalled long in advance. Neither smart, nor humble, his tactic seemed to be a kind of bumbling blandness." According to Mardell, only Cruz was effective and well-prepared, as "he ripped into the nominee with all the skill honed as a Texas solicitor general."

File:Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, starts his day reading newspaper excerpts in the Early Bird, in Kabul, Afghanistan.jpg early morning newspaper.) in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 9, 2013]]

Hagel was sworn in on February 27, 2013, taking over from Leon Panetta.

In May 2013, during a visit to Asian countries whose "main doubt" was American staying power in the region, Hagel called the decline of American military power a "good thing", because it forced American allies to share responsibilities.{{cite news|last=Ten |first=Daniel |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-30/hagel-set-for-vietnam-embrace-as-asian-leaders-eye-rising-china.html |title=Hagel Set for Vietnam Embrace as Wary Asia Eyes Rising China |publisher=Bloomberg.com |date=May 30, 2013 |access-date=July 5, 2013}}{{cite web|author=Ernesto Londoño |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hagel-visits-asia-to-reassure-allies/2013/05/31/627018a2-c9d8-11e2-9cd9-3b9a22a4000a_story.html |title=Hagel visits Asia to reassure allies |publisher=M.washingtonpost.com |date=May 31, 2013 |access-date=July 5, 2013}}

On July 31, 2013, Hagel announced the results of his Strategic Choices and Management Review, undertaken in response to the budget sequestration in 2013.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130825113345/http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1798 "Statement on Strategic Choices and Management Review."] One of the options he highlighted was to reduce the navy's aircraft carrier groups down from 11 to as little as eight.{{cite web |url=http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140126/DEFREG02/301270019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140126181914/http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140126/DEFREG02/301270019 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 26, 2014 |title=Carrier Cut Could Be Back on Table |last1=Cavas |first1=Christopher P. |date=January 26, 2014 |website=defensenews.com |publisher=Gannett Government Media Corporation |access-date=January 26, 2014}}

On August 27, 2013, Hagel told the BBC that the United States was ready to launch a strike against Syria if given the orders.{{cite news|title=US ready to launch Syria strike, says Chuck Hagel|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23847839|publisher=BBC|access-date=August 27, 2013|date=August 27, 2013}}

File:U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, center left, introduces himself to Turkish military leaders Sept 140908-D-NI589-553.jpg.]]

Hagel has pushed National Guard leadership to provide benefits for same-sex domestic partnerships, as directed by the Department of Defense.{{cite news|last=Bentz|first=Leslie|title=Hagel directs National Guard to press forward with same-sex benefits|url=http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/01/hagel-directs-national-guard-to-press-forward-with-same-sex-benefits/|publisher=CNN|access-date=November 1, 2013|date=November 1, 2013|archive-date=October 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019101531/http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/01/hagel-directs-national-guard-to-press-forward-with-same-sex-benefits/|url-status=dead}}

Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum in November 2013,{{cite web|title=Halifax International Security Forum (DoD Arctic Strategy)|author=Chuck Hagel|url=https://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1821|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=November 22, 2013|access-date=May 15, 2014}} Hagel announced the Pentagon's new Arctic strategy{{cite web|title=Hagel Announces DOD's Arctic Strategy|author=Karen Parrish|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/id/121220/|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=November 22, 2013|access-date=May 15, 2014}} emphasizing the commitment of the United States to "detect, deter, prevent and defeat threats to the United States, and continue to exercise US sovereignty in and around Alaska".{{cite news|title=Hagel says nations must avoid conflict in Arctic|author=Lolita C. Baldor|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/11080056|newspaper=The Guardian|date=November 23, 2013|access-date=May 15, 2014}} He also called for more international cooperation to protect the Arctic's environment{{cite news|title=U.S. sounds alarm over melting Arctic at Halifax security forum |author=Jane Taber|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/us-sounds-alarm-over-melting-arctic-at-halifax-security-forum/article15575463/|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=November 22, 2013|access-date=May 15, 2014}} and to keep the region "peaceful, stable and free of conflict".{{cite news|title=Climate Change Forces New Pentagon Plan|author=Paul D. Shinkman|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/22/climate-change-forces-new-pentagon-plan|newspaper=U.S. News & World Report|date=November 22, 2013|access-date=May 15, 2014}}

File:Chuck Hagel and Ursula von der Leyen at the NATO summit, September 2014.jpg at the September 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales]]

In December 2013, after the suspension of an Association Agreement with the EU by the Ukrainian Government of President Victor Yanukovych in November 2013 had led to massive protests, Hagel in a phone call warned the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Pavlo Lebedyev "not to use the armed forces of Ukraine against the civilian population in any fashion".{{cite web|title=Hagel Warns Ukraine Not to Use Military Against Protestors|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/id/121329/|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=December 12, 2013|access-date=May 9, 2014}} After Yanukovych's impeachment and the beginning of the Crimean crisis in February 2014, Hagel warned Russia against military maneuvers "that could be misinterpreted, or lead to miscalculation during a very delicate time".{{cite web|title=Hagel Warns Russia on Ukraine Miscalculation Amid Crimea Unrest |author=James G. Neuger and Gopal Ratnam|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-27/nato-warns-russia-against-ukraine-meddling-amid-crimea-unrest.html|publisher=Bloomberg|date=February 27, 2014|access-date=May 9, 2014}} In several phone calls with the Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu{{cite web|title=Obama, Hagel Contact Top Russian Officials on Ukraine|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/id/121755/|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|date=March 1, 2014|access-date=May 9, 2014}}{{cite web|title=Hagel Demands Answers on Russian Troop Buildup at Ukraine Border|author=Brendan Cullerton|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/03/hagel-demands-answers-on-russian-troop-buildup-at-ukraine-border/|work=ABC News|date=March 20, 2014|access-date=May 9, 2014}}{{cite news|title=Hagel assured by Russian minister Moscow will not push beyond Crimea|author=Spencer Ackerman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/20/hagel-assured-russian-minister-moscow-push-crimea|newspaper=The Guardian|date=March 20, 2014|access-date=May 9, 2014}} Hagel expressed deep concerns about Russian military activities near the Ukrainian border and called for an end of any "destabilizing influence inside Ukraine". He was assured by Shoygu that the Russian army would not invade Ukraine.{{cite news|title=Ukraine crisis: Moscow assures Pentagon it will not invade |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10794741/Ukraine-crisis-Moscow-assures-Pentagon-it-will-not-invade.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10794741/Ukraine-crisis-Moscow-assures-Pentagon-it-will-not-invade.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=April 29, 2014|access-date=May 9, 2014}}{{cbignore}} Speaking in April 2023, Hagel said that unfortunately in 2014 the Ukrainian armed forces were in no condition to receive advanced weaponry in order to reverse the course of events.

In May 2014, speaking at the Wilson Center on the future of NATO, Hagel focused on the alliance's imbalance in defense spending and called for "renewed financial commitments from all NATO members". According to Hagel, the alliance "should expect Russia to test our alliance's purpose, stamina and commitment":{{cite news|title=Ukraine crisis highlights NATO defense spending problem: Hagel|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nato-hagel-idUSBREA410EX20140502|work=Reuters|date=May 2, 2014|access-date=May 9, 2014}}{{cite news |title=Into the Fold or Out in the Cold? NATO Expansion and European Security after the Cold War |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/the-fold-or-out-the-cold-nato-expansion-and-european-security-after-the-cold-war |work=Video: NATO Expansion and European Security after the Cold War |publisher=The Wilson Center |date=May 2, 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Hagel |first1=Chuck |title=SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CHUCK HAGEL REMARKS AT THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/event/secdefhagel_asprepared_05_02_2014.pdf |publisher=The Wilson Center |date=May 2, 2014}}{{US DOS}}

{{cquote|Since the end of the Cold War, America’s military spending has become increasingly disproportionate within the Alliance. Today, America’s GDP is smaller than the combined GDPs of our 27 NATO Allies, but America’s defense spending is three times our Allies’ combined defense spending. Over time, this lopsided burden threatens NATO’s integrity, cohesion, and capability – and, ultimately, both European and transatlantic security. Many of NATO’s smaller members have pledged to increase their defense investment.. but the Alliance cannot afford for Europe’s larger economies and most militarily capable Allies not to do the same, particularly as transatlantic economies grow stronger. We must see renewed financial commitments from all NATO members.}}

Hagel was not insensitive to the European dependence on Russian natural gas and consequent exposure to "Russia’s coercive energy policies". In fact he saw even then an opportunity for North American producers. NATO's European allies were "positioned" to reduce their natural gas imports from Russia by more than 25% and the U.S. Department of Energy had conditionally approved export permits for American liquefied natural gas that add up to more than half of Europe's gas imports from Russia.

Hagel was instrumental in formulating the 2014 NATO Wales summit declaration, in which the Allies agreed to increase (over a period of ten years) their defence expenditures.{{cite news |title=Wales Summit Declaration |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_112964.htm |publisher=NATO |date=September 5, 2014}} The target of 2% GDP, formulated as a trial balloon at the 2006 NATO Riga summit by then-NATO Ambassador Victoria Nuland, had been scorned by most in Europe, for example Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Only three alliance members did so in 2014.{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/10242694.2021.1940649|title=NATO's Two Percent Guideline: A Demand for Military Expenditure Perspective |year=2022 |last1=Alozious |first1=Juuko |journal=Defence and Peace Economics |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=475–488 |s2cid=237888569 |doi-access=free }} In light of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the issue had assumed increased political relevance.{{cite news |last1=Techau |first1=Jan |title=The Politics of 2 Percent: NATO and the Security Vacuum in Europe |url=https://carnegieeurope.eu/2015/09/02/politics-of-2-percent-nato-and-security-vacuum-in-europe-pub-61139 |publisher=Carnegie Europe |date=September 2, 2015}}

File:SecDef_visits_Israel_-_May_15-16,_2014_140515-D-BW835-272_(14006585759).jpg and Moshe Ya'alon]]

During his time as Secretary of Defense, he was known for the close relationship he formed with Israeli defense officials, in particular Moshe Ya'alon, who described Hagel as a 'true friend'.[http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Yaalon-praises-Chuck-Hagel-as-true-friend-382736 Ya'alon praises Chuck Hagel as 'true friend'] By MICHAEL WILNER, HERB KEINON, November 24, 2014 Even as his relations with the White House deteriorated, Hagel was positively viewed by Israeli military officials, which was seen as a stark contrast to the way Hagel was perceived by some in Washington prior to his appointment.

On November 24, 2014, The New York Times reported that Hagel would be resigning from his position as Secretary of Defense under pressure from the Obama administration, in particular because of a dispute with NSA Advisor Susan E. Rice over Syria policy. The administration under Hagel's watch had struggled to articulate a strategy to defeat ISIL in both Iraq and Syria.Helene Cooper, [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/us/hagel-said-to-be-stepping-down-as-defense-chief-under-pressure.html Hagel Resigns Under Pressure as Global Crises Test Pentagon], The New York Times, November 24, 2014 Later that day, President Obama announced Hagel's resignation and thanked him for his service. Hagel said in a statement, "You should know I did not make this decision lightly. But after much discussion, the President and I agreed that now was the right time for new leadership here at the Pentagon."{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/greatest-privilege-my-life-chuck-hagel-resigns-defense-secretary-n254846 |title='Greatest Privilege of My Life': Chuck Hagel Resigns as Defense Secretary |publisher=NBCNews.com |date=November 24, 2014 |access-date=November 24, 2014 |author=Miklaszewski, JIm}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30182410|title=US defence secretary Chuck Hagel resigns|date=November 24, 2014|work=BBC News|access-date=November 25, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/24/chuck-hagel-step-down-us-defence-secretary|title=Chuck Hagel forced to step down as US defense secretary|date=November 24, 2014|work=Guardian|access-date=November 25, 2014}}

Hagel did not deny rumors that Obama asked for his resignation, but he explicitly contended that it was a "mutual decision" between him and President Obama.{{cite web|last1=Shinkman|first1=Paul|title=Chuck Hagel Explains Why He Resigned as Secretary of Defense|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/12/04/chuck-hagel-explains-why-he-resigned-as-secretary-of-defense|website=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=December 8, 2014}} Senator John McCain offered his own insight: Hagel was frustrated with the White House decision-making process, national security policy, and "excessive micromanagement" within the White House.{{cite web|last1=Starr|first1=Barbara|title=Hagel refused to hold off resignation announcement in spite of White House wishes|date=December 2, 2014 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/02/politics/chuck-hagel-white-house-frustration-timing/|publisher=CNN|access-date=December 8, 2014}} In December 2015, during an interview with Foreign Policy, Hagel stated he was "backstabbed" and accused Obama administration officials of making anonymous comments after his resignation in an effort to destroy his reputation.{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/|title=Hagel: The White House Tried to 'Destroy' Me|work=Foreign Policy|first=Dan|last=De Luce|date=December 18, 2015|access-date=April 9, 2021}}

Hagel continued in post until the confirmation of his successor, Ash Carter, in February 2015.

In 2019 Hagel funded the annual Hagel Lecture at the University of Chicago Project for Security and Threats,{{cite news |title=Ukraine, Russia, and the Future of the Liberal Order - Hagel lecture series |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlWfEyRl430 |agency=YouTube |publisher=The University of Chicago |date=10 April 2023}} and on 17 October 2019 gave a keynote speech at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg to address: "How healthy is the ocean’s constitution? 25 Years of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea".{{cite news |title=How healthy is the ocean's constitution? 25 Years of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea |url=https://hls.indiana.edu/unclos/index.html |publisher=Indiana University HAMILTON LUGAR SCHOOL OF GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES |date=October 2019}}

In 2020, Hagel, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."{{cite web |url=https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/ |title=Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden |date=20 August 2020 |website=Defending Democracy Together |access-date=26 August 2021}}

Hagel, along with more than 100 Republican former national security officials, signed a letter in November 2020 that stated that the delay of the presidential transition imperiled the security of the nation. The 9/11 Commission finding that the shortened transition to the administration of George W. Bush during the disputed 2000 presidential election "hampered the new administration in identifying, recruiting, clearing, and obtaining Senate confirmation of key appointees" was mentioned in the statement.{{Cite news|last=Brook|first=Tom Vanden|title='Special jeopardy': 100 former Republican national security officials warn Trump must allow transition|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/23/100-gop-national-security-officials-trump-transition-refusal-hurts-us/6392529002/|access-date=November 25, 2020|work=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}

Hagel, along with all other former secretaries of defense, nine in total, published a Washington Post op-ed piece in January 2021 telling President Trump not to involve the military in determining the outcome of the 2020 elections.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/former-defense-secretaries-rebuke-trump-election/2021/01/03/1c708f64-4de5-11eb-b2e8-3339e73d9da2_story.html|title=All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory|access-date=January 3, 2021|date=January 3, 2021|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en-US}}

In 2001, Hagel was awarded the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.{{cite web|title=Chuck Hagel Former United States Senator District of Columbia Class Year: 2001|url=http://www.horatioalger.org/member_info.cfm?memberid=HAG01|publisher=Horatio Alger Association}} He was also granted the title of Nebraska Admiral by Nebraska's governor, an honorary title, considering Nebraska is a landlocked state.

On June 7, 2001, Hagel gave the commencement address for North Central College and was given an honorary L.L.D.{{cite web|title=North Central College 2006-2007 Highlights|url=http://northcentralcollege.edu/content/north-central-college-2006-2007-highlights|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217094419/http://northcentralcollege.edu/content/north-central-college-2006-2007-highlights|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 17, 2013|publisher=NCC|access-date=January 11, 2013|location=Naperville, IL}} He was the keynote speaker at the College of William & Mary's Charter Day in 2007, at which he was awarded an honorary degree of Public Service.{{cite web |last=Zagursky |first=Erin |url=http://web.wm.edu/news/archive/index.php?id=7191 |title=U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel to speak at William and Mary's Charter Day |publisher=The College of William & Mary |date=January 9, 2007 |access-date=August 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825130504/http://web.wm.edu/news/archive/index.php?id=7191 |archive-date=August 25, 2012 |url-status=dead }} On March 3, 2008, he led a town meeting on domestic and foreign policy issues at the University of Maryland, at which the Center for American Politics and Citizenship (CAPC) gave him the Millard Tydings Award for Courage and Leadership in American Politics.{{cite web|title=Sen. Chuck Hagel Town Mtg. with Youth Voters at UM|url=http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=1606|work=University Communications Newsdesk|publisher=University of Maryland|access-date=January 11, 2013|author=Neil Tickner|date=February 28, 2008}} Hagel served as the 2010 Clifford P. Case Professor of Public Affairs at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics, speaking at public programs in New Brunswick and Newark, New Jersey.[http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/about/documents/EIP2009-10Report.pdf Eagleton Institute Report, 2009-2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604055437/http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/about/documents/EIP2009-10Report.pdf |date=June 4, 2013 }} PDF, Eagleton Institute, p. 4, accessed December 18, 2012.

Hagel was also the featured speaker at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Chemistry Council at Colorado Springs.

Hagel has two younger brothers: Thomas, a professor at the University of Dayton School of Law,{{cite journal|url=http://law2.unl.edu/forms/classNotes.pdf|title=Alum Notes|journal=The Nebraska Transcript|publisher=The University of Nebraska College of Law|page=44|access-date=August 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819211619/http://law2.unl.edu/forms/classNotes.pdf|archive-date=August 19, 2011|url-status=dead}} and Michael, an artist resident in Omaha, Nebraska.{{cite web|url=http://www.veteransmemorialbranson.com/newsarchive/001.html|title=Veterans Memorial Museum Unveils Original Oil Painting, "Red Tails Strike Again", in Honor of Tuskegee Airmen|publisher=Veterans Memorial Museum of Branson|access-date=August 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717195128/http://www.veteransmemorialbranson.com/newsarchive/001.html|archive-date=July 17, 2011|url-status=dead}} Hagel's third brother, James, died in an automobile accident at the age of 16.{{cite news|last=Lelyveld |first=Joseph |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12hagel.html?pagewanted=all |title=The Heartland Dissident|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 12, 2006|access-date=February 25, 2016}} Hagel was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, but converted to the Episcopal Church.[https://archive.org/details/chuckhagelmoving0000bere/page/12 cached excerpt from Charlyne Berens' biography, Chuck Hagel, which refers to Hagel's parents as "pillars of their Catholic church"; Hagel's father; Charles Hagel had converted to the Catholic faith of his wife.] [https://archive.org/details/chuckhagelmoving0000bere/page/12 Page 17 of the same work refers to Hagel as "now an Episcopalian."]

In 1979, Hagel married Patricia Lloyd. The couple separated in 1981 and divorced a year later.Charlyne Berens, Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward, University of Nebraska Press (2006), p. 53. He married his second wife, Lilibet Ziller, in April 1985. The couple live with their daughter, Allyn, and son, Ziller, in McLean, Virginia.Robert G. Kaiser. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180714101850/https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50063-2004Nov14/?language=printer "The Political Veteran: He Survived Vietnam and Won the Senate. Could Chuck Hagel Take the White House?"]. The Washington Post, Monday, November 15, 2004; p. C01. Retrieved July 10, 2007.

While a Senator, Hagel had a tradition of wearing costumes to work on Halloween, usually masquerading as one of his colleagues or other notable political figures, including Joe Biden, John McCain, Colin Powell, and Pat Roberts in past years.{{cite news|first=Lauren|last=Kornreich|url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/31/will-the-real-joe-biden-please-stand-up|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107091416/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/31/will-the-real-joe-biden-please-stand-up/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2007|title=Will the real Joe Biden please stand up?|work=Political Ticker|publisher=CNN|date=October 31, 2007|access-date=March 23, 2008}} He gave back a portion of his salary for the 2013 fiscal year in solidarity with his department's workers who were facing 14 days of furloughs.{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/chuck-hagel-will-take-pay-cut-under-sequester-89551.html?hp=f2 |title=Chuck Hagel to give back some of his salary to DOD |author=Stephanie Gaskell |work=Politico |date=April 3, 2013 |access-date=July 5, 2013}}

Hagel is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.{{cite web|title=Issue One – ReFormers Caucus|url=https://www.issueone.org/reformers/|access-date=November 25, 2020|language=en}} In October 2022, Hagel joined Issue One's Council for Responsible Social Media project to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media in the United States co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader Dick Gephardt and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.{{cite news|last=Feiner|first=Lauren|date=October 12, 2022|title=Facebook whistleblower, former defense and intel officials form group to fix social media|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/12/council-for-responsible-social-media-features-haugen-gephardt-hagel-.html|access-date=October 12, 2022}}{{cite web|title=Council for Responsible Social Media – Issue One|website=issueone.org|url=https://issueone.org/projects/council-for-responsible-social-media/|access-date=October 12, 2022}}

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Republican United States Senatorial Primary Election in Nebraska, 1996{{cite web|url=http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/senate.htm#NEBRASKA |title=Federal Elections 96: 1996 U.S. Senate Results by State |publisher=Fec.gov |access-date=January 7, 2013}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Chuck Hagel

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 112,953

| percentage = 62.24

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Don Stenberg

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 67,974

| percentage = 37.46

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Write-ins

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 544

| percentage = 0.30

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 181,471

| percentage= 100.00

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin |title=United States Senate election in Nebraska, 1996{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1996/96Stat.htm#27 |title=96 PRESIDENTIAL and CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION STATISTICS |publisher=Clerk.house.gov |access-date=January 7, 2013}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Chuck Hagel

|votes = 379,933

|percentage = 56.14%

|change = +15.21%

}}{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Ben Nelson

|votes = 281,904

|percentage = 41.65%

|change = −17.25%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Libertarian Party (United States)

|candidate = John DeCamp

|votes = 9,483

|percentage = 1.40%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Natural Law Party (United States)

|candidate = Bill Dunn

|votes = 4,806

|percentage = 0.71%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate

|party = Write-ins

|candidate =

|votes = 663

|percentage = 0.10%

|change =

}}

{{Election box majority

|votes = 98,029

|percentage = 14.48%

|change = −3.49%

}}

{{Election box turnout

|votes = 676,958

|percentage =

|change =

}}

{{Election box gain with party link

|winner = Republican Party (US)

|loser = Democratic Party (US)

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Republican United States Senatorial Primary Election in Nebraska, 2002{{Cite web |url=http://www.sos.ne.gov/elec/prev_elec/2002/pdf/primary_canvass_2002.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=December 24, 2012 |archive-date=June 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605032838/http://www.sos.ne.gov/elec/prev_elec/2002/pdf/primary_canvass_2002.pdf |url-status=dead }}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Chuck Hagel (inc.)

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 144,160

| percentage = 100.00

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 144,160

| percentage= 100.00

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin |title=2002 United States Senate election in Nebraska{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2002/2002Stat.htm |title=2002 ELECTION STATISTICS |publisher=Clerk.house.gov |access-date=January 7, 2013}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Chuck Hagel (inc.)

|votes = 397,438

|percentage = 82.76%

|change = +25.36%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Charlie A. Matulka

|votes = 70,290

|percentage = 14.64%

|change = −27.96%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Libertarian Party (United States)

|candidate = John J. Graziano

|votes = 7,423

|percentage = 1.55%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Independent (politician)

|candidate = Phil Chase

|votes = 5,066

|percentage = 1.05%

|change =

}}

{{Election box majority

|votes = 327,148

|percentage = 68.13%

|change = +53.31%

}}

{{Election box turnout

|votes = 480,217

|percentage =

|change =

}}

{{Election box hold with party link

|winner = Republican Party (US)

|loser =

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070516173535/http://unp.unl.edu/bookinfo/5106.html Charlyne Berens, Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward], University of Nebraska Press (2006)

{{wikisource author}}

{{Commons category|Chuck Hagel}}

• [http://www.micindustries.com/press_release040909.htm Hagel Joins MIC Industries]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130603235035/http://www.corsair-capital.com/team_emp.aspx?category=advisory&member=Chuck%20Hagel Corsair Capital]
• {{C-SPAN|45254}}
• [https://www.unomaha.edu/criss-library/archives-and-special-collections/hagel-archives.php U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives] at the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [https://archives.nebraska.edu/repositories/4/resources/508 U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives finding aid] at the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [https://repository.unomaha.edu/islandora/object/unomaha%3Ahagel Digital collection including selected speeches of Senator Chuck Hagel] at the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [http://hagel.omeka.net/exhibits/show/chuckhagelbiography Charles Timothy Hagel: A Life in Photographs] online exhibit from the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [http://hagel.omeka.net/exhibits/show/paradingaround Parading Around: Chuck Hagel Campaign Parades and Events] online exhibit from the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [http://hagel.omeka.net/exhibits/show/lifeofasenator/january1997 Life of a Senator: Schedules in a Senate Office] online exhibit from the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [http://hagel.omeka.net/exhibits/show/press/introduction In the News: Press, Media, and Speeches in the Hagel Archives] online exhibit from the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [http://hagel.omeka.net/exhibits/show/videos Under the Bright Lights: Videos in the Hagel Archives] online exhibit from the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
• [http://hagel.omeka.net/exhibits/show/goodlife At Home in Nebraska] online exhibit from the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library

{{Wikiquote}}

;Documentaries, topic pages and databases

• {{CongLinks | congbio=h001028 | votesmart=231 | fec=S6NE00087 | congress= }}

;Selected speeches

• [http://thinkprogress.org/hagel-speech-on-us-iran-relations/ Speech on U.S.-Iran Relations], Senate Speeches, U.S. Government, February 22, 2007

;Selected news articles

• Josh Rogin, [http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/17/chuck_hagel_does_not_like_sanctions Chuck Hagel does not like sanctions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113024538/http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/12/17/chuck_hagel_does_not_like_sanctions |date=January 13, 2013 }}, Foreign Policy, December 17, 2012e
• {{cite magazine |author=Bruck, Connie |author-link=Connie Bruck |date=November 3, 2008 |title=Odd Man Out: Chuck Hagel's Republican Exile |department=The Political Scene |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=84 |issue=35 |pages=52–63 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/03/081103fa_fact_bruck }}
• [http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=164709&title=sen.-chuck-hagel Sen. Chuck Hagel Interview] (video), The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, March 31, 2008
• [https://thehill.com/homenews/news/7547-hagel-low-on-cash-on-hand-raising-retirement-issue/ Hagel low on cash on hand, raising retirement issue], The Hill, January 30, 2007
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12hagel.html Joseph Lelyveld, "The Heartland Dissident"], New York Times Magazine, February 12, 2006
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080726051859/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122101933.html Chuck Hagel: A Christmas Present, and Past], The Washington Post, December 22, 2005
• [http://www.c-span.org/video/?189814-1/qa-chuck-hagel Interview] C-SPAN Q&A, November 13, 2005
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20030401221124/http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx Hagel’s ethics filings pose disclosure issue], The Hill, January 29, 2003

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Category:20th-century United States senators