Rudy deLeon is a senior fellow with the National Security and International Policy team at American Progress. He has worked at the organization since 2007 and focuses on U.S. national security issues and U.S.-China relations.
DeLeon’s 25-year government career concluded in 2001 after his tenure as deputy secretary of defense, during which time he served as the chief operating officer at the Pentagon, a member of the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council, and a member of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Partnership Council on labor-management issues. In earlier Pentagon assignments, deLeon served as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness from 1997 to 2000 and as undersecretary of the air force from 1994 to 1997.
From November 1985 through 1993, deLeon served as a member of the professional staff and staff director for the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. In 1986, deLeon participated in the debate and passage of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act, which made fundamental changes in military organization and operations. DeLeon began his career in the federal government in 1975, holding various staff positions in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
For five years, beginning in 2001, he served as a senior vice president for the Boeing Company, focusing on global trade issues and Washington, D.C., operations.
In addition to his duties at American Progress during the past five years, deLeon chaired the 2009 U.S. Department of Defense review of the civilian National Security Personnel System, was a member of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Congressional Commission, and currently serves on the Defense Policy Board.
DeLeon earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in 1974. In 1984, he completed the executive program in national and international security at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
DeLeon received the Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 1994, 1995, and 2001 and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal in 2001. He was recognized by the National League of POW/MIA Families in 1999 and by the National Military Family Association in 2000.
As the Taiwan presidential transition begins, President Ma Ying-jeou leaves a legacy for successful cross-Strait relations with China.
China’s growing assertiveness creates opportunities and challenges for the United States.
The experiences of the Truman administration—when a president tried to balance policy and politics during a time of great international challenges—can inform today’s foreign policy debate.
This September, a major bilateral summit that brings the leaders of both China and the United States together will offer another opening to deepen bilateral ties for the mutual benefit of both countries, as well as the rest of the world.
A final nuclear agreement with Iran may be within reach, but both Congress and the White House must remain vigilant and clear-eyed about the hurdles.
Some of the world's oldest Christian communities are disappearing in the very lands where their faith was born. The status of Christians in the Middle East is an important sign of broader regional trends in religious freedom, pluralism, and tolerance.
Rudy deLeon makes remarks at the two-day Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate on regional security in the Gulf, offering his perspectives on the geopolitical questions that are affecting international players from the United States to China, as well as organizations from NATO to the European Union.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft test flight has cracked open the door to humanity’s first voyage to another world since the last Moon landing in 1972.
It’s time for the United States to strengthen its space program and regain control of exploration beyond Earth.
The annual Singapore-based Asia-Pacific security summit, traditionally a convivial affair, is becoming more candid and sharp elbowed—and that’s a good thing. This candidness should serve as a template for future regional security conversations.
