Awww! An ex-CIA director is captured for history in the company of his faithful companion

Leon Panetta (CIA director, 2009-11) and Bravo in their official CIA portrait, by Steven Polson, unveiled last week in the agency’s Directors’ Gallery.

"I brought him to work with me in the director's office, and he sat in on a lot of the briefings on the bin Laden raid and never leaked a word about what was going on."

-- Leon Panetta, to the Washington Post's "In the Loop"
team (which adds, "Well, that's what Panetta thinks")

by Ken

What's more, "In the Loop" reports, "Folks at the agency, probably thinking Bravo had clearance, would pet him as he wandered about during meetings in the office." The former CIA director told "In the Loop" that Bravo was with him during "a lot of crises," and "he kept me grounded." He added, "One of the greatest dangers of jobs in Washington is you lose your humanity, and people need to remember that."

So it was only natural, when it came time to commission an official portrait for the CIA's Directors' Gallery, ex-Director Panetta wanted to have Bravo the golden retriever included. He got his unconventional wish, and the result was unveiled last week.

The portrait was done by Steven Polson, who the "Loop"-ers note "has done a couple dozen or more of Cabinet-level folks -- including three former secretaries of state." Our relentless investigators did worm out of him, however, that "this is the first one with a dog." You have to figure that going forth, once word spread has spread, a groundswell of public officials entitled to having an official portrait done will clamor to have a treasured pets included.

It's certainly not the first time that the ex-CIA director and ex-defense secretary has been picture in the company of Bravo, as witness the photo below from his Pentagon days, when he thanked the Maine Golden Retriever Club for making him its first honorary member.

Then-Defense Sec'y Panetta and Bravo at their desk in 2012, when the secretary was made the first honorary member of the Maine Golden Retriever Club.

SPEAKING OF THE EX-DIRECTOR AND EX-DEFENSE SEC'Y --

"In the Loop" goes on to report:

Meanwhile, Panetta’s got a memoir coming out next month. Worthy Fights covers his whole D.C. career, from Richard Nixon’s administration (Nixon fired him) to the Obama White House.

Will it be a tell-all? Panetta demurred: “Hopefully people will learn some lessons about how to run the government. I’ve seen Washington at its best and at its worst, and there are some lessons to be learned. First and foremost, we have to elect leaders who want to govern.”

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