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

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

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

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

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

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

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”

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  180,000 employees  Social  Talk show host humor increased issue awareness

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

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

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

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