Hamilton, Lee

Following his retirement in 1999 from 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 9th district of Indiana, Lee Hamilton was asked to direct the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, where he could apply his considerable experience in international affairs and consensus building to bringing policy makers and scholars from all over the world together to gain from one another’s perspectives and insights. As he had done during his congressional career, he reviewed daily the most respected periodical publications in English, building a research base for the work which he would be called upon to do as vice chair of the 9/11 Commission, as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, as a member of various other commissions, and as a consultant and advisor on national security and international affairs. These clippings and his working notes form the bulk of this collection and provide the backdrop for his 12-year career in national and international public service in matters of foreign affairs and national security.

From the guide to the The Lee H. Hamilton Post-Congressional Papers (Hamilton II), 1999-2010, (Modern Political Papers Collection, Indiana University Libraries http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=7508)

The 9/11 Public Discourse Project was started by the ten members of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, or 9/11 Commission, to continue efforts toward implementation of the 9/11 Commission recommendations after the Commission’s congressional mandate expired on August 21, 2004. The PDP was established as a non-profit tax-exempt organization, with the ten members of the 9/11 Commission serving as its board of directors. Originally conceived as a one-year project, it was supported in its first year largely by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Under the directorship of Christopher Kojm, who had served as deputy to 9/11 Commission vice-chair Lee Hamilton, the commissioners undertook extensive congressional testimony and public appearances. As it became clear that the work of implementation was going to be a great deal more complex than anticipated, they sought funding for additional time, provided by the Knight Foundation and by a grant from the Smith Richardson Foundation. Their seven public sessions on “The Unfinished Agenda” in June and July 2005 were a prelude to the intensive reports on implementation in fall 2005, culminating in December with the widely publicized “report card” sessions that graded the executive and legislative branches of government as well as relevant law enforcement agencies on their implementation of the recommendations in the 9/11 Commission’s report. The project ceased operation on December 31, 2005.

From the guide to the The Lee H. Hamilton 9/11 Public Discourse Project Papers, 2003-2007, (Modern Political Papers Collection, Indiana University Libraries http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=7508)

Lee Herbert Hamilton was born April 20, 1931, in Daytona Beach, Florida, attended the public schools of Evansville, Indiana, excelling in basketball, and graduated from De Pauw University, 1952. He studied at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1952 and 1953, and graduated from the Indiana University School of Law in 1956. He went into private practice in Columbus, Indiana, and became active in the Bartholomew County Young Democrats. He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-ninth and to the sixteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1965-January 3, 1999), combining intensive efforts toward development in his largely rural district with extensive engagement through his committee work in international affairs. Hamilton served on the Foreign Affairs Committee for his full congressional tenure, chairing its Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East for over two decades, chairing also the Select Committee on Intelligence (99th Congress), the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran (100th Congress), the Joint Economic Committee (101st Congress); and the Committee on Foreign Affairs (103rd Congress). His complete committee service record also includes the Post Office and Civil Service Committee and the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress.

Deciding to retire in 1999, he worked with President Miles Brand of Indiana University to establish the Center on Congress, which he directs, and was appointed director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, which position he held until November 2011. He served as vice chair of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) from 2002-2004, as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group with James Baker in 2006, and continues to serve as a consultant on national security and international affairs both individually and as a member of various commissions.

From the guide to the Lee Hamilton Congressional Papers, 1965-1998, (Modern Political Papers Collection, Indiana University Libraries http://http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=7508)

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002. It was chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission was also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

Chair of the Commission was former New Jersey Governor(1982-1990) Thomas Kean, Vice Chair was former Indiana 9th district Congressman (1965-1998) Lee H. Hamilton. The other commissioners were Richard Ben-Veniste, Fred F. Fielding, Jamie S. Gorelick, Slade Gorton, Bob Kerrey, John F. Lehman, Timothy J. Roemer, and James R. Thompson. A staff of 81 was led by Philip D. Zelikow as Executive Director, Christopher A. Kojm as Deputy Executive Director, and Daniel Marcus as Chief Counsel. Although consisting of five Democrats and five Republicans, Kean and Hamilton agreed from the outset that the process would be nonpartisan and that recommendations would be arrived at by consensus. Hamilton’s commitment to this process appears to have been the impetus to compiling his personal historical record contained in the collection.

Because of the scope of the work, staff was divided into 9 teams (later slightly reorganized) to investigate Al Qa’ida and Related Transnational Terrorist Groups; Intelligence Collection, Analysis, Management, Oversight, and Resources; International Counter-Terrorism Policy; Terrorist Financing; Border Security and Foreign Visitors; Law Enforcement and Intelligence Efforts Inside the U.S.; Commercial Aviation and Transportation Security; National Leadership: Immediate Response, Crisis Management, and Continuity of Government; and Emergency Response and Consequence Management: New York City and the Pentagon.

The Commission held an inaugural public hearing March 31-April 1, 2003, providing through testimony an overview of the range of the investigation, then 11 more public hearings in the next 14 months focusing on Congress and Civil Aviation Security; Terrorism, al Qaeda, and the Muslim World; Intelligence and the War on Terrorism; Private/Public Sector Partnerships for Emergency Preparedness; Security and Liberty; Borders, Transportation, and Managing Risk; Counterterrorism Policy; testimony from Condoleezza Rice; Law Enforcement and Intelligence; Emergency Response; and The 9/11 Plot and National Crisis Management.

On July 22, 2004 the Commission released its public report, published in a paperback run of 500,000 by W. W. Norton and priced at $10 in the hope that every American would be able to afford it. On August 21, 2004, staff monographs on Terrorist Financing and on 9/11 and Terrorist Travel were released, accompanied eventually by 17 staff reports on various aspects of the Commission’s investigations. The National Archives maintains a website on the 9/11 Commission that provides links to these publications for download, as well as biographical information on the commissioners.

The Commission’s mandate expired August 21, 2004. In an effort to maintain pressure on Congress and the Executive branch for implementation of the Commission’s recommendations and to build public support, the ten commissioners created the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, which continued through December 31, 2005. Lee Hamilton and his staff continued to document their work during the course of the project, which documentation is contained in the Lee H. Hamilton 9/11 Public Discourse Project Papers, MPP 15.

From the guide to the The Lee H. Hamilton 9/11 Commission Papers, 2003-2005, (Modern Political Papers Collection, Indiana University Libraries http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=7508)