Ethics on the Front Line: The Modern Military

CLEVELAND: Lieutenant General Franklin Hagenbeck, superintendent of the United States Military Academy, West Point, will speak about West Point’s role as a preeminent leadership development institution through its Center for Excellence in Professional Military Ethic at noon on Friday, August 31, 2007, at The City Club of Cleveland. He will also share his observations as commander of Operation Anaconda, the first large-scale battle in the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan, and the lessons learned from combat theater.

Hagenbeck was born in Morocco to a U.S. Navy family and was commissioned from the U.S. Military Academy in 1971. He has commanded at every level from company through division, culminating as Commanding General of the 10th Mountain Division. He has also served in the 25th Infantry Division, 10th Mountain Division, 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, and TRADOC.

Before becoming superintendent, Hagenbeck served as the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, and in numerous staff positions, including Chief of Staff, 10th Mountain Division; Director, Officer Personnel Management Directorate, U.S. Total Army Personnel Command; and Assistant Division Commander (Operations), 101st Airborne Division.

Hagenbeck’s decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal with one oak-leaf cluster; the Legion of Merit with four oak-leaf clusters; the Bronze Star with one oak-leaf cluster; the Army Achievement Medal; the Air Assault Badge; the Master Parachutist Badge; the Expert Infantryman Badge; Australian, British, and Honduran Airborne Wings; the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge; and the Army Staff Identification Badge.

Surveying the Political Landscape

Charlie Cook, publisher of The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan, online analysis of electoral politics, will give us an analysis of the 2008 Presidential race, the House and Senate races, and the majority flip in 2006 at noon on Friday, September 7, 2007, at The City Club of Cleveland.

Cook also is a political analyst for the National Journal Group, where he writes weekly for National Journal magazine and CongressDailyAM, writes a regular column for the Washington Quarterly, and is a political analyst for NBC News.

Widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading authorities on U.S. elections and political trends, Cook has appeared on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs, as well as on Good Morning America, the Today Show, Nightline, Meet the Press with Tim Russert, and This Week…. He has also appeared on MSNBC, C-Span, CNN, and National Public Radio.

Before joining the National Journal Group in June 1998, Cook wrote for 12 years a twice-weekly column in Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill. Charlie also served as an election night analyst for CBS in 1990 and 1992, and for NBC in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004.

The New York Times has called Cook, “...one of the best political handicappers in the nation” and noted that The Cook Political Report is “...a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative.” The Wall Street Journal’s Al Hunt has called Cook “the Picasso of election analysis,” while David Broder of The Washington Post has written that Charlie Cook is “perhaps the best non-partisan tracker of Congressional races.”

Tickets for this City Club Friday Forum are $18 for members and $30 for non-members. Lunch is included. Reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance of the event. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.