Tom Ridge: First Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

1. Tom Ridge: First Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Antonella Demartini PA 762 Case Study Presentation December 7, 2011

2. Presentation Overview • Ridge’s background • National context • Leader challenges and accomplishments • Constraining and facilitating factors • Leadership theory • Conclusion

3. Ridge’s Career of Public Service • Vietnam veteran • Assistant District Attorney of Erie, Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania Representive, six terms • Pennsylvania Governor, two terms • Director of White House Office of Homeland Security • First Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

4. Context: National Crises & Extraordinary Legislation • September 11, 2001 • Anthrax poisoning, September 2001 • PATRIOT Act, 2001 • Homeland Security Act, 2002

5. Leader Challenges I • No job description • Overwhelming list of potential terrorist threats • infrastructure, bioterrorism, transportation security, water supply, natural disaster relief • Associated Press figures (Ridge, 2009, 67-68) • 600,000 bridges; 2,800 power plans (104 of them nuclear) • 190,000 miles of natural gas pipelines; 95,000 miles of coastline • 463 skyscrapers; 416 commercial airports • 285 million people were spread out over 3,717,792 square miles • Review of daily threat matrix with CIA, FBI, DOJ, Pentagon, NSA

6. Leader Challenges II • Corroborating intelligence • Risk management: weighing risks and making tradeoffs because being all places at once was impossible • Culture of secrecy: “need to know culture” versus “need to share culture” • Local and state officials without adequate information, staffing, training, funding

7. Constraining Factors • Political • Responsible for monitoring an overwhelming list of terrorism threats • Accountable to multitude of stakeholders • Oversight by 86 Congressional committees (Ridge, 2009, 200) • Economic • No funding for state and local jurisdictions - had to absorb cost in their budgets • Social • Challenging the “keep everyone out” mentality • Few believed increased security was about “secure borders and open doors”

8. Facilitating Factors • Political • No job description, no predecessor – discretion to devise methods/procedures/programs • Presidential support • Economic (Ridge, 2009, 131) • $ 37.5 billion budget for FY 2003-2004 • 180,000 employees • Social • Talk show host humor increased issue awareness

9. Leader Accomplishments • Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) • U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indication Technology (US-VISIT) program • Widespread support for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) • Increased border/airport inspectors; vaccine stockpiling; increased standards for water quality and food inspection

10. Leadership Theory I • Traits/Characteristics: Ridge was a “decisive, clear thinking executive who kn[ew] how to solve problems. He [was] a person of integrity and a person of good judgement” (Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 2003). • Styles • Strategic – aligned organization with the external environment • Achievement oriented - HSAS, US-VISIT, increased security measures • Collaborative – partnerships with federal/state/local agencies

11. Leadership Theory II • Transformational leadership theory because unprecedented time • Referent power, ideological appeal (career of public service) • Triggers of change (9/11 and anthrax poisoning) creating instability, crisis, need for change • Leader of an open system (DHS) • Split attention between internal and external demands (multiple stakeholders) • Adaptation to new processes, organizational structures, technologies (22 gov’t agencies combined, biometrics) • Environmental scanning, consulting, networking/partnering • Ethical leadership • sacrificing personal life out of obligation to public service

12. Conclusion • Effective leader who created a functioning department • Increased awareness of and national preparedness for terrorism attacks in/on the United States • Questions?