Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace

It's hard to find an American public official, appointed or elected, who has had a more distinguished record of public service over the past five decades than Panetta. Here, with author and Los Angeles Times editor-at-large Newton (Justice for All; Eisenhower), he offers an insider's perspective that is suffused with insight, intelligence, and integrity. Panetta, the son of Italian immigrants, presents himself quite convincingly as an American patriot committed to the nation's fundamental principles. He concedes that he's neither a scholar nor a theorist; rather, he's an effective, engaging manager of offices and agencies. Panetta served as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011 and secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013. The prose in this enlightening work is often a bit wooden but what comes through clearly is the author's love for his country, and his unflagging efforts to help prod it in the right direction and protect it. As a contemporary political memoir, the book reflects what is often the case: criticize an incumbent president (Barack Obama) and go a bit softer on potential presidential candidates (Hillary Clinton).