Panetta, Leon E(dward) (1938– )

US Democrat politician, White House chief of staff 1995–96. An advocate of spending cuts and tax increases in order to deal with the budget deficit, he was director of the Office of Management and Budget 1993–94.

Panetta was born in Monterey, California. He was civil-rights officer of the department of health, education, and welfare under President Richard Nixon, concerned with the desegregation of schools, but resigned in 1970. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1977–93. As chair of the budget committee 1989–93, he was a leading architect of President George Bush's tax-raising budget of 1990.