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Michael Arthur Ledeen (; "Michael Ledeen: How We Can Win" August 1, 1941 – May 17, 2025) was an American scholar (2025). 9789004212558, BRILL. ISBN 9789004212558 and neoconservativeA. Danchev 'Ed., The Iraq war and Democratic politics, Routledge, 2004, p.38. foreign policy analyst. He was a consultant to the United States National Security Council, the United States Department of State, and the United States Department of Defense. He held the Freedom Scholar chair at the American Enterprise Institute where he was a scholar for 20 years, and also held the similarly named chair at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He was very close to Italian politician Antonio Martino. Ledeen was also noted to have done work for Italian intelligence agency SISMI, having received over $100,000 in payment to offshore bank accounts for services including but not limited to training Italian intelligence operatives. Ledeen denied these allegations but admitted that he did do work for SISMI and was paid for it.
Ledeen subsequently moved to Rome, where he was hired as the Rome correspondent for The New Republic and was named a visiting professor at the University of Rome for two years until 1977. In Rome, Ledeen worked with Italian historian Renzo De Felice, who greatly influenced Ledeen, drawing a distinction between "fascism-regime" and "fascism-movement." "Flirting with Fascism" , John Laughland, The American Conservative, 30 June 2003. Ledeen's political views developed to stress "the urgency of combating centralized state power and the centrality of human freedom" A Theory, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, March 10, 2003. Ledeen continued his studies in Italian Fascism with a study of the takeover of Fiume by Italian irredentist forces under Gabriele d'Annunzio, who Ledeen argued was the prototype for Mussolini.
Five years later, in 1985, a Wall Street Journal investigation suggested that the series of Billygate articles written by Ledeen were part of a larger disinformation campaign intended to influence the outcome of that year's presidential election. According to the reporting, Francesco Pazienza, an officer of the Italian intelligence agency SISMI, alleged that Ledeen was paid $120,000 for his work on Billygate and other projects. Pazienza and Ledeen were very active in disinformation efforts. At SISMI, Pazienza stated, Ledeen warranted a coded identification: Z-3. Pazienza was later tried and convicted in absentia for using "extortion and fraud to obtain embarrassing facts about Billy Carter".
Ledeen was involved in the Iran–Contra affair as a consultant to National Security Advisor Robert C. McFarlane. Ledeen met with Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres, officials of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and the CIA to arrange meetings with high-ranking Iranian officials, whereby Iranians supported by the US would be given weapons by Israel, and would proceed to negotiate with Hizbollah for the release of hostages in Lebanon. Ledeen's own version of the events is published in his book, Perilous Statecraft.
Ledeen vouched for Iranian intermediary Manucher Ghorbanifar. According to Adnan Khashoggi in 1985, Ghorbanifar was the head of Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi's European intelligence and Ledeen was aware of this. In one interview after the scandal broke, Ledeen stated that he initially had "profound reservations" about Ghorbanifar, but that he proved himself to be reliable by opening a channel to Iranian leaders. In another report in which he was described as "perhaps the only person on the US side of the affair to defend Ghorbanifar", he said that he considered Ghorbanifar to be a friend.
According to a September 2004 article by Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris in Washington Monthly: "The first meeting occurred in Rome in December, 2001. It included Franklin, Rhode, and another American, the neoconservative writer and operative Michael Ledeen, who organized the meeting. (According to UPI, Ledeen was then working for Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith as a consultant.) Also in attendance was Ghorbanifar and a number of other Iranians."
Colleagues Andrew McCarthy and Mark Levin have defended Ledeen, writing: "Up until now, the fiction recklessly spewed by disgruntled intelligence-community retirees and their media enablers—some of whom have conceded that the claim is based on zero evidence—has been that Michael had something to do with the forged Italian documents that, according to the Left's narrative, were the basis for President Bush's "lie" in the 2003 State of the Union Address that Saddam Hussein had obtained yellowcake uranium (for nuclear-weapons construction) in Africa."
Regarding the "pre-emptive" invasion of Iraq, in 2002 Ledeen criticized the views of former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, writing:, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, August 6, 2002.
Prior to the start of the Iraq war, Ledeen called it a "desperately needed and long overdue war against Saddam Hussein" and that there was a "dire need to invade Iraq". This caused Glenn Greenwald to condemn a later statement by Ledeen that he had "opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place" as an "outright lie".Glenn Greenwald: What do National Review, Rich Lowry, and the AEI have to say about Michael Ledeen's lie, Unclaimed Territory, November 5, 2006 Ledeen maintained that his statements were nonetheless consistent, noting that "I opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place and I advocated—as I still do—support for political revolution in Iran as the logical and necessary first step in the war against the terror masters." The Latest Disinformation from Vanity Fair Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, November 4, 2006
According to Justin Raimondo, Ledeen "holds up Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright as patsies for Khomeini—who supposedly believed that the Ayatollah overthrew Shah Reza Pahlavi because the Iranian government was 'excessively repressive and intolerant.' While it would not do to come right out and deny the savagery of the Shah's legendary SAVAK secret police, Ledeen informs us that, under the monarch's beneficent rule, 'Iran had become too modern, too tolerant—especially of women and of other religious faiths—and too self-indulgent. The shah had Westernized Iran'—except, perhaps, in his prisons, where the ancient methods of torture were routinely employed on dissidents of all sorts."Justin Raimondo (2002-11-18) The War Against the World, The American Conservative
Ledeen was at the time of his death against both an invasion of Iran or air-strikes within the country. He argued that the latter may eventually become necessary if negotiations with the Iranian government fail, but it would only be the least bad option of many options and it would lead to many negative unforeseen consequences. United States Policy toward Iran. Michael A. Ledeen. American Enterprise Institute. Posted March 8, 2006 The New York Times called Ledeen's skepticism towards military action against Iran surprising given his opposition to the regime.
In July 2016 Ledeen co-authored with Lt. General Michael T. Flynn, at the time Donald Trump's national-security adviser, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies. Flynn and Ledeen constructed a narrative in which the world was at war with a "great evil" and Iran was the central player on the enemy side.Philip Giraldi: Iran Hawks Take the White House | The American Conservative, 9 February 2017
Ledeen was a board member of the "Coalition for Democracy in Iran" (CDI), founded by Morris Amitay, a former executive director of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Ledeen had also been part of the board of the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon. According to The Washington Post, quoted by Asia Times, he was the only full-time international affairs analyst regularly consulted by Karl Rove, George W. Bush's closest advisor.
Following the February 2003 speech by French Minister for Foreign Affairs Dominique de Villepin at the United Nations General Assembly against the intervention in Iraq, Ledeen outlined, in a column entitled "A Theory," a possibility that France and Germany, both NATO allies of the United States, "struck a deal with radical Islam and with radical Arabs" to use "extremism and terrorism as the weapon of choice" to weaken the United States. He stated, "It sounds fanciful, to be sure," but that, "If this is correct, we will have to pursue the war against terror far beyond the boundaries of the Middle East, into the heart of Western Europe. And there, as in the Middle East, our greatest weapons are political: the demonstrated desire for freedom of the peoples of the countries that oppose us." A Theory, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, March 10, 2003See also: Eurabia
Jonah Goldberg, Ledeen's colleague at National Review, coined the term "Ledeen Doctrine" in a 2002 column. Goldberg recalled that his tongue-in-cheek expression had been summarized in one of Ledeen's early 1990s speeches as "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business," as Goldberg remembered Ledeen saying in an early 1990s speech.
Ledeen also advocated that U.S. leaders take a stronger rhetorical stance in wars on Islamic regimes and militant groups. For instance, he recommended in public talks that U.S. leaders question or challenge defeated Islamic militaries or forces and even suggest the apparent failure of Allah to assure their victory.
His first wife was Jenny Ledeen of St. Louis, Missouri.
At the time of his death, Ledeen was married to his second wife, Barbara, who was a longtime staffer for Senator Chuck Grassley on the Senate Judiciary Committee until early 2021, when she retired from the Senate, and with whom he had three children: Simone, Gabriel, and Daniel. Simone has worked both in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Department of Defense; Gabriel is currently a lieutenant in the United States Marines Corps serving his second tour in Iraq; Daniel too is currently a lieutenant in the USMC. In Iraq, the Job Opportunity of a Lifetime Ariana Eunjung Cha The Washington Post, May 23, 2004
Ledeen was an accomplished contract bridge player, having won one American Contract Bridge League national-level tournament, the 2009 Senior Swiss Teams, on a with Karen Allison, Lea Dupont and Benito Garozzo. He also partnered with Jimmy Cayne, who oversaw the collapse of Bear Stearns firm in 2007 and 2008. Consulted by a New York Times journalist early in the episode, Ledeen suggested that his book on the leadership lessons of Machiavelli had influenced Cayne, and observed that "Jimmy saw himself in Machiavelli ... you have to get rid of failure and you have to punish lack of virtue ruthlessly and all the time." "Salvaging a Prudent Name". Landon Thomas, Jr. The New York Times. June 29, 2007. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
Ledeen died from complications of multiple in Austin, Texas, on May 17, 2025, at the age of 83.
Controversial theories
Ledeen also believed that Iran is the main backer of the insurgency in Iraq and even supported the al-Qaida network formerly led by al-Zarqawi despite its declaration of jihad against Shi'ite Muslims. Iran Connects the Dots , Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, June 9, 2006 He claimed that German and Italian court documents showed Zarqawi created a European terrorist network while based in Tehran.
Personal life
Ledeen was born in Los Angeles, California.
Missing Clinton emails
Barbara Ledeen sparked controversy in 2015 when she tried to launch her own investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails while a staff member for Senator Chuck Grassley. The senator then served on the Judiciary Committee looking into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. According to FBI notes, Mrs. Ledeen requested the assistance of both a defense contractor and Newt Gingrich, who asked Judicial Watch for financial assistance for her efforts. Judicial Watch requested another contractor to access the "deep web and dark web". One of Gingrich's closest aides, Peter W. Smith, had approached Matt Tate, a former British intelligence official, about the matter. Smith was also working with Michael Flynn, a confidant of Michael Ledeen. After Tate discovered that Smith was obtaining Clinton's emails independently of Barbara Ledeen's efforts, Grassley told her to stop her investigation.
Project Veritas
To support Project Veritas in 2017 and 2018 while a staff member on the Senate Judiciary Committee led by Chuck Grassley, Barbara Ledeen was tasked with helping to discredit H.R. McMaster, who had stated that President Trump had the intelligence of a "kindergartner" and was an "idiot." She posted numerous comments on Facebook supporting Project Veritas—including "We owe a lot to Erik Prince" because of his efforts to support Project Veritas— as well disparaging posts about McMaster himself. Barbara Ledeen's involvement in the campaign to discredit McMaster led to her being named as a member of the Groundswell group; she admitted passing on information to Project Veritas but said "I am not part of a plot."
Bibliography
See also
Notes
Sources
(2007). 9781933633275, Melville House Publishing. ISBN 9781933633275
External links
Categories: 1941 Births, 2025 Deaths, American Jews, Historians Of Fascism, Iran–contra Affair, Writers From Los Angeles, Washington University In St. Louis Faculty, The American Spectator People, American Conspiracy Theorists, American Contract Bridge Players, Neoconservatism, New Right, Members Of The Jewish Institute For National Security Of America, Pomona College Alumni, Academic Staff Of The Sapienza University Of Rome
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