List of Books by George Tenet. See all books authored by George Tenet
About George Tenet
George John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Tenet held the position as the DCI from July 1997 to July 2004, making him the second-longest serving director in the agency's history – behind Allen Welsh Dulles – as well as one of the few DCIs to serve under two U.S. presidents of opposing political parties. In February 2008 he became a managing director at the merchant bank Allen & Company.
Tenet was born in Flushing, Queens, New York to a family of Greek origin from Greece and Albania, John and Evangelia Tenet; his father first worked in a coal-mine in France before arriving in the United States. Tenet was raised in Little Neck, Queens where he and his brother Bill worked as busboys in their family's diner (later renamed the Scobee Grill). He attended Public School 94, Louis Pasteur Junior High School 67, and Benjamin N. Cardozo High School (he was a classmate of Ron Jeremy and actor Reginald VelJohnson).
Tenet holds a bachelor's degree (1976) from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a master's degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (1978).
Tenet is married to Stephanie Glakas-Tenet. They have one son.
After he received his M.I.A., Tenet became research director of the American Hellenic Institute from 1978 to 1979.
He then began working for the Senate, first as a legislative assistant and later as Legislative Director to former Senator H. John Heinz III of Pennsylvania (1982-1985). He was a staff member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) from 1985-1988, then Staff Director of the SSCI from 1988-1993. Later, Tenet joined President-elect Bill Clinton's national security transition team. Clinton appointed Tenet Senior Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council (1993-1995).