Frank Carlucci

Who is he: Frank Carlucci is the former Chairman Emeritus of the Carlyle Investment Group, with Carlyle since 1989 when he joined the Board of Directors. He was placed in the chairmanship in 1993 and given chairman emeritus rank in 2003 until 2005.

Carlucci has had a long career in the military defense industry, having served as Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration from November 1987 until January 1989 before moving to the Carlyle Group. Carlucci served previously as Deputy Director of the CIA under Carter and as director of the Office of Economic Opportunity in the Nixon administration.

Background: Frank Carlucci III was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a seemingly typical middle-class family. His father, Frank Carlucci, Jr., was a local insurance broker. However, Carlucci was sent to boarding school at Wyoming Valley in upstate Pennsylvania, graduating in 1948. He graduated from Princeton University in 1952, where he had been a roommate of later secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld. Carlucci joined the Navy as an officer in 1952 and returned to college to earn his MBA at Harvard University after his military stint.

An interesting fact in the Frank Carlucci III story is his namesake. The Carlucci family was important to the Scranton community. There was a significant Italian population and many had associational connections to their homeland. Frank Carlucci I was born in Italy and immigrated to the United States when he was 20 years old to work in his craft as a stone mason. He was a master stone worker and a member of the Freemasons, holding the distinction of being the "sublime prince of the royal secret," which is the highest honor in masonry.

The Carlucci Brothers built a national business in stone carving and mining. They were a model business for the industry and built many massive stone structures and monuments, such as Ellis Island Landing Station at New York Harbor during the late 1800s. These achievements were grand for their time period and the Carlucci crafters made a name in the stone mason industry. Frank I died shortly after Frank Carlucci III was born.

In 1956, Carlucci III went to work at the US State Department and was dispatched to an assignment in the Congo. This was the beginning of his involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency where he would serve as Deputy Director from 1978 until 1981 under Director Stansfield Turner, who had replaced George H.W. Bush. Carlucci's initial stay in the Foreign Service ended in 1969.

Carlucci became Undersecretary of Health, Education and Welfare during the Nixon Administration while Caspar Weinberger was Secretary. Weinberger would also serve in the Reagan Administration with Carlucci, as well as Rumsfeld. Carlucci was directly responsible for helping Donald Rumsfeld attain his position in the Nixon Administration. Carlucci was named Ambassador to Portugal in 1974, serving until 1978 during the Portuguese revolution. In 1978, he was named Deputy Director of the CIA during the Carter Administration.

Carlucci also served as a National Security Advisor for the Reagan Administration. His professional history of movement from the private to public sector suggests that he has been in place during critical times in history and has played a major undercurrent role in several eras of United States history during the 20th century.

This diverse background – with a proven connection to the CIA and then joining the Carlyle Group, and later named CEO – adds fuel to the controversy regarding the Carlyle Group investment pattern and peculiar interests in world events. The operational style of the Carlyle Group has been largely one of secrecy, connected to the military-industrial complex and all of the individuals of significant wealth and power, many being former United States government cabinet members.

Carlucci has also been associated with conservative think-tank Project for the New American Century, or PNAC, and is on the board of trustees at the RAND Corporation. Additionally, he has sat on the board of directors for the Middle East Policy Council and is a member of the Honorary Board of the Drug Force Alliance, a group which presents evidence that supports the movement to legalize drugs.