A day after the Senate ended efforts to block his nomination and narrowly voted to confirm him, Chuck Hagel was sworn in as the 24th secretary of defense. He succeeds Leon E. Panetta as the top civilian commander of the armed forces. Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, earned two Purple Heart medals as an Army sergeant during the Vietnam War. Despite his record of service in the military and the Senate, Hagel drew sharp opposition from members of his own party. The criticism largely stemmed from Republican anger at Hagel’s change of heart regarding support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While initially voting to support the action, Hagel publicly changed his mind. Questions also arose about whether Hagel is capable of managing the nation’s largest federal agency, as well as other national-security related issues. "His positions on the principal national security issues facing our country – the Iranian nuclear program, the resurgent Islamist terrorist threat in North Africa and the Middle East," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, during remarks on the Senate floor. "Senator Hagel’s complete lack of experience in running an enterprise of such size and complexity as the Department of Defense casts further doubt on the advisability of his nomination," McCain continued. The opposition eventually could not muster enough strength to block Hagel’s nomination outright. The full Senate voted Feb. 26 to confirm him, 58-41.
