Jack Keane

Keane was born in Manhattan, New York,Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal, [https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB122186492076758643 "Why the Surge Worked"], September 20, 2008{{Cite web |url=https://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=731 |title=Defense.gov News Release: GENERAL OFFICER ANNOUNCEMENT |date=January 24, 1996 |website=www.defense.gov |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302002332/http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=731 |archive-date=March 2, 2010}} the son of Elizabeth (née Davis) and John Keane. He has a brother, Ronald.

Keane attended Bishop Dubois High School and Fordham University, where he participated in the Pershing Rifles. He graduated with a B.S. degree in accounting in 1966. He then attended Western Kentucky University and graduated with an M.A. degree in philosophy. He later graduated from the US Army Command and General Staff College and the US Army War College.{{cite web|url=http://www.jhuapl.edu/POW/bios/keane.htm |title=General Jack Keane (bio) |work=Principles of War Seminar Series |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory |access-date=January 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304104138/http://www.jhuapl.edu/POW/bios/keane.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2007 |url-status=dead }}[https://policy.defense.gov/Portals/11/Documents/Bios/ NDS%20John%20Keane.pdf?ver=2018-04-04-114258-970 Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States: General John M. “Jack” Keane, USA, Retired]{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} - website of the United States Department of Defense

File:President George W. Bush signs a defense appropriations bill at the Pentagon.jpg George W. Bush signs a defense appropriations bill on 10 January 2002]]

Keane served in the Vietnam War as a Ranger paratrooper, leading in combat as a platoon leader and company commander. He earned the Combat Infantry Badge and the Master Parachutist Badge.Fred Kaplan, The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War, Simon & Schuster, 2013, p. 225. He later served in U.S. engagements in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo. His commands include the 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, 101st Airborne Division, and the XVIII Airborne Corps.

In 1991 Keane saved the life of David Petraeus during a live-fire exercise. According to Keane, Petraeus was shot "accidentally, standing right next to me, and I had to fight to save his life. He had a hole about the size of a quarter in his back and is gushing with blood, and we stopped the bleeding and got him on a helicopter and got him to a surgeon and so we were sort of bonded ever since that time."{{cite interview |last1=Keane|first1=Jack |interviewer=Bill Kristol |title=Jack Keane |date=July 29, 2014

|website=Conversations with Bill Kristol |access-date=October 1, 2014 |url=http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/jack-keane/}}

Keane was under consideration to become the Chief of Staff of the Army in 2003, but declined the appointment.{{cite journal|last=Grossman|first=Elaine|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24819977|title=News analysis: SCHOOMAKER CHOICE SENDS RIPPLE EFFECT THROUGH ARMY AND BEYOND|date=2003-08-04|access-date=2024-10-13|journal=Inside the Army|volume=15|issue=31|pages=13–15|publisher=Inside Washington Publishers|jstor=24819977 }} He retired from military service in 2003.

File:Former Army vice chief of staff visits TF Falcon 100903-A-8481S-385.jpg

File:President Trump Presents the Medal of Freedom to General Jack Keane (49646196636).jpg from US President Donald Trump on 10 March 2020]]

After his retirement, he has served as an informal advisor to presidents and other senior officials. He served an advisory role in the management of the US occupation of Iraq, as a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee. In January 2007, Keane and the scholar Frederick W. Kagan released a policy paper, "Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq,"{{cite web|last=Kagan |first=Frederick W. |author-link=Frederick W. Kagan |date=January 5, 2007 |url=https://www.aei.org/publication/choosing-victory-a-plan-for-success-in-iraq/ |title=Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq: Phase I Report |work=AEI |publisher=American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research |access-date=2017-04-17 |archive-date=January 17, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070117151850/http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.25396/pub_detail.asp}} through the American Enterprise Institute that called for bringing security by putting 30,000 additional American troops there for at least 18 months. In part convinced by this paper, President George W. Bush ordered on 10 January 2007, the deployment of 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, most of whom would be deployed to Baghdad. The deployment has been nicknamed the 2007 "surge."{{cite news|first=David |last=Kerley |author-link=David Kerley |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2782936&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 |title=The Architect of Bush's New Iraq Strategy |publisher=ABC News |date=January 9, 2007 |access-date=January 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825043919/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2782936&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 |archive-date=August 25, 2007 |url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Hastings, Hirsh, and Wolffe |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16411558/site/newsweek/page/2/ |title='Surge' Strategy |work=Newsweek National News |publisher=MSNBC |page=2 |date=January 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114221629/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16411558/site/newsweek/page/2/ |archive-date=January 14, 2007 |access-date=January 16, 2007 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web | url=https://music.youtube.com/podcast/cyl9-mAPugA | title=YouTube Music }}

Debate was intense over how long the surge should last. Keane supported a longer buildup of at least one year. The surge was supposed to support the Iraqi Security Forces until they could assume responsibility for country security. The National Intelligence Estimate supported the longer timeframe, noting that there were problems with the independence of the Iraqi police from sectarian militias and death squads. Keane supported the view that distribution of economic assistance would have a more significant impact over a longer deployment because "with the short term surge...the enemy can wait you out."{{cite news |last1=Cloud |first1=David S. |last2=Gordon |first2=Michael R. |title=Buildup in Iraq Needed Into '08, U.S. General Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/08/washington/08military.html |access-date=19 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=8 March 2007}}

Of his initial meeting with President Bush regarding the surge, Keane said that he made a phone call to Newt Gingrich to ask his advice prior to the meeting. As Keane said in 2014, {{blockquote|text=Gingrich gave me some good advice. He said, "Look, Jack. Most people go in the Oval Office, even people who go in there a lot, have a tendency in front of the President of the United States to always leave something on the table." He said, "Don't leave anything on the table." He said, "You're going to get about 15 minutes at best and put it all out there. And when you walk out of that room, feel good that you got it all out there." So that was sound advice, and I did put it all out there.}}

Keane was asked by Vice President Cheney to go back on active duty and to lead the surge in the field. When Keane declined, Cheney pressed him to come work in the White House and oversee both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; Keane again declined. Keane ended up briefly working at the White House and then later traveled to Iraq several times to advise General Petraeus.{{cite interview |last1=Keane|first1=Jack |interviewer=Bill Kristol |url=http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/transcript/gen-jack-keane-transcript/ |title=GEN. JACK KEANE TRANSCRIPT |date=29 July 2014 |website=Conversations with Bill Kristol |publisher=The Foundation for Constitutional Government |access-date=6 June 2018}}

Keane is a regular contributor to Fox News and is involved in a variety of business, think tank and charitable activities. He serves as chairman of AM General, the firm that produces the Humvee.{{Cite news |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/12/26/defense_firms_lure_retired_generals/ |title=From the Pentagon to the private sector: In large numbers, and with few rules, retiring generals are taking lucrative defense-firm jobs |first=Bryan |last=Bender |website=The Boston Globe |date=December 26, 2010}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.amgeneral.com/news-events/news/am-general-announces-general-ret-jack-keane-has-joined-the-company-as-executive-chairman/ |title=AM General Announces General (Ret.) Jack Keane Has Joined the Company as Executive Chairman |website=AM General |date=October 26, 2016}} In June 2016, Keane co-founded IP3 International (IP3), a nuclear energy consulting firm.

Keane is an advisor to the Spirit of America, a 501(c)(3) organization.{{Cite web |url=https://spiritofamerica.org/about/team/jack-keane |title=General Jack Keane |website=Spirit of America |access-date=April 23, 2021}} He formerly served as a strategic advisor for Academi and is a former director of defense giant General Dynamics.

In November 2016, shortly after Stanley A. McChrystal declined the post of Secretary of Defense, Keane was offered an appointment to the post, but he declined, citing the death of his wife several months earlier. After Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned in December 2018, Trump again offered the job to Keane, who again declined.Bergen, Peter. (2019). Trump and his generals: the cost of chaos. New York: Penguin Press. {{ISBN|978-0-525-52241-6}}. p. 49, p. 251[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/20/502769948/ret-army-gen-jack-keane-says-he-declined-offer-to-be-defense-secretary Ret. Army Gen. Jack Keane Says He Declined Offer To Be Defense Secretary], NPR (November 20, 2016).{{Cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/07/trump-struggles-to-replace-mattis-1084749 |title=Trump struggles to replace Mattis as Pentagon chief |last1=Johnson |first1=Eliana |last2=Lippman |first2=Daniel |website=Politico |date=January 7, 2019}}

Keane is considered an influential voice to leaders from both major political parties, including Donald Trump, particularly on foreign policy issues related to the Middle East.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/02/keane-fox-news-iran-trump-1394148|title=The Fox News general who 'spooked' Trump out of attacking Iran: President Donald Trump may have tired of the men he once called 'my generals,' but one retired military leader still has his ear on key foreign policy matters|first=Eliana|last=Johnson|date=July 2, 2019|publisher=Politico}}

He is a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee.{{Cite web |title=Defense Policy Board |url=https://policy.defense.gov/OUSDP-Offices/Defense-Policy-Board/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=policy.defense.gov}}

Keane is a cofounder and director of IP3 International.{{Cite web

| title = Our Team

| work = IP3 Int'l

| access-date = 22 February 2019

| url = http://ip3international.com/team/

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190219220759/http://ip3international.com/team/

| archive-date = 2019-02-19}}

According to a staff report to the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, during the 2016 US presidential campaign of Donald Trump and subsequently, Trump aides such as Jared Kushner and others have been engaged in promoting IP3's plan to transfer nuclear technology from the US to Saudi Arabia. According to the report, IP3 founders and others have been seeking to broker a deal with Riyadh without the "gold standard," a provision—tied to Section 123 of the 1954 Atomic Energy Act, which establishes conditions for nuclear cooperation between the US and its allies, that seeks to limit weaponizing of nuclear energy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/AEASection123|title=The U.S. Atomic Energy Act Section 123 At a Glance |website=Arms Control Association}}

In July 2019, the committee chairman released a second staff report that detailed various activities and contacts between IP3 and the Trump administration.{{Cite web

| title = Corporate and Foreign Interests Behind White House Push to Transfer U.S. Nuclear Technology to Saudi Arabia Prepared for Chairman Elijah E. Cummings Second Interim Staff Report Committee on Oversight and Reform U.S. House of Representatives July 2019

| work = oversight.house.gov

| access-date = 29 July 2019

| url = https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/Trump%20Saudi%20Nuclear%20Report%20July%202019.pdf

| archive-date = December 1, 2019

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191201165838/https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/Trump%20Saudi%20Nuclear%20Report%20July%202019.pdf

| url-status = dead

}}{{Cite web

| title = Appendix A – Documents

| work = oversight.house.gov

| access-date = 29 July 2019

| url = https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/Trump%20Saudi%20Nuclear%20Report%20July%202019%20-%20Appendix%20A.pdf

| archive-date = October 11, 2019

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191011035633/https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/Trump%20Saudi%20Nuclear%20Report%20July%202019%20-%20Appendix%20A.pdf

| url-status = dead

}} A letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) that was signed by General Keane and executives of IP3, boasted, “The agreements by President Trump and Mohammed bin Salman have established the framework for our unique opportunity to take the next steps with IP3 and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/19/michael-flynn-saudi-arabia-1174531|title=House report lays bare White House feud over Saudi nuclear push |website=Politico|date=February 19, 2019 }}

Keane married his first wife, Theresa Doyle, in 1965, and has two sons. She died in 2016 after having Parkinson's disease for 14 years.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/army-gen-jack-keane-declines-trump-secretary-defense-offer-article-1.2881156|title=Retired four-star Army Gen. Jack Keane says he turned down Trump's offer to be secretary of defense|first=Stephen Rex|last=Brown |date=November 20, 2016 |website=Daily News}} He is married to Angela McGlowan.{{cite tweet|number=1237774949563215873|user=angelamcglowan|title=I felt so blessed and humbled to witness my husband General Jack Keane {{sic|rec|ieve|nolink=y}} The Presidential Medal Of Freedom.…|date=March 11, 2020}}https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/20-03_02-11-2000.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}

Military awards that Keane has received include two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, two Army Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star, five Legion of Merits, the Bronze Star Medal, three Meritorious Service Medals, one Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Chiefs Service Badge, the Humanitarian Service Medal, Ranger Tab, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, and the Air Assault Badge.

President Donald Trump awarded Keane the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 10 March 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-presentation-presidential-medal-freedom-general-jack-keane/|title=Remarks by President Trump at the Presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to General Jack Keane

|language=en|access-date=2020-03-12|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|quote=It was the first senior military official to visit troops in the field.}}

Keane's civilian awards include the Fordham University Distinguished Alumni Award, the USO 2002 Man of the Year award, and the Association of the United States Army 2001 Man of the Year award. Keane was furthermore awarded an honorary Ph.D. degree in law from Fordham University and an honorary Ph.D. degree in public service from Eastern Kentucky University.

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Category:1943 births

Category:Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments

Category:Fordham University alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Military personnel from Manhattan

Category:Pershing Riflemen

Category:Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal

Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)

Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit

Category:Recipients of the Silver Star

Category:United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni

Category:United States Army generals

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Category:Western Kentucky University alumni