Americas Homeland Security: 25-Years After 9/11

Jeh Johnson served as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017, leading the nation's third-largest federal department with oversight of agencies including TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Secret Service. Previously, he served as General Counsel of the Department of Defense under President Barack Obama, where he helped shape U.S. counterterrorism policy and co-authored the report that led to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Earlier, he served as General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York. A graduate of Morehouse College and Columbia Law School, Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Asa Hutchinson has served this nation in a number of top security positions ranging from serving in Congress on the Select Committee on Intelligence; as Administrator of the DEA; and after the 9-11 attack on our country, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Undersecretary of Homeland Security in charge of protecting our country from a terrorist attack. Most recently, Asa finished 8 years as the 46th Governor of Arkansas and continues to work on security issues in the private sector including serving as Chairman of the Board of First Coast Security Solutions of Jacksonville, Florida. In his reelection as Governor, Asa received more votes than any other Republican candidate in Arkansas’s history. Asa was raised on a farm near Gravette; graduated from Springdale High School; and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas.  He was appointed as the youngest U.S. Attorney in the nation at the age of 31.  He now lives in Rogers and continues to work on national security issues.   

Tom Ridge was born in Munhall, Pennsylvania. Raised in a working class family, he won a scholarship to Harvard University, graduating with honors in 1967. While attending Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, winning the Bronze Star for valor. After completing his military service he returned to law school, graduating in 1972. He went on to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in Erie before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. The first enlisted Vietnam veteran to become a member of Congress, he served six terms before winning the governorship. Ridge's gubernatorial administration saved families and employers nearly $8.7 billion through tax cuts, workers compensation reform, a reduction in red tape, and electric and natural gas competition, all of which helped create nearly 300,000 new jobs. Ridge also made Pennsylvania a technology leader, winning the nation's first model e-commerce law. In addition, he focused on education, winning legislation to create charter schools, alternative education for disruptive students, and professional development for teachers. He won reelection, but was chosen before completing his second term to become head of the nation's new Office of Homeland Security, created in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. When the Office achieved Department status, Ridge became Secretary of Homeland Security, a position in which he served until 2005. He went on to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Home Depot and of Savi Technology.