Sean O’Keefe
In a recent commentary for Breaking Defense, Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, noted the opening of President Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address in 1981, where the Republican observed that the peaceful and orderly transfer of national authority is a hallmark of our unique American experiment with democracy.
Professor O’Keefe has served in public office many times, including four times as a presidential appointee: at NASA; as Secretary of the Navy; as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and deputy assistant to the President; and as comptroller and CFO at the Defense Department.
In the piece, O’Keefe emphasizes that “our alliances, our trade partnerships, our technology, innovation and production prowess, our ‘strength’ that President Trump likes to extol and our global moral standing all derive from our demonstrated, collective capacity as citizens to marshal our resolve and adhere to our principles when our common national interests are at stake.”
