Have former presidents ever revoked security clearances for ex-officials in the past? If so, what were the reasons?
Yes, and one President that I know of actually had his access level quietly downgraded by DIRNSA.That was after Bert Lance was bragging to his buddies about stuff he was hearing about from his friend the President. One paper actually printed high level codeword material he never should have had access too.After careful consideration, that particular President was not briefed on future matters where he didn’t have the absolute need to know.It seems that more recently (especially after 9/11) former government officials have retained their security clearances in order to advise those persons who replaced them. It is also often continued as an “honorarium” for previous high-level government officials.The practice of letting former government workers retain their access to sensitive information indefinitely should cease immediately unless they are actively involved in security matters that require it.A top secret clearance based on a special background investigation SBI is generally good for 5 years, after which time a fresh SBI is required to maintain that clearance (at least it was when I did investigations for G2/PSI at Ft. Campbell). Your particular job determines the ACCESS level granted after you pass the SBI. Once you leave that job, your access ends until you start another job that requires a particular level of access. The most common TS access granted in the government is TS/SCI (sensitive compartmented information) SI or “Special Intelligence”. Another is TK or “Talent-Keyhole”. There are other compartmentalized monikers out there depending on what is required for your job.I can think of two specific cases where compartmentalization failed miserably, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden.Anyway, it’s usually not the President who revokes a security clearance of former government officials (although he has the power to do so), it’s the responsibility of whoever issues the approval for access to sensitive information within that particular department.Ironically, the same President referred to at the top of my answer ordered much of the compartmentalization procedures after he found out in his initial briefing that too many people had access to some of the highest top secret information they didn’t need to perform their jobs. Probably the best thing he did during his presidency.
What are some of the best examples of "beauty with brains"?
Raghuram RajanI thought of writing an introduction myself ,but Shobha De has done an awesome job already, so I am just quoting her ."The guy's put 'sex' back into the limp Sensex. That makes him seriously hot. So hot, in fact, he has made it to the Amul hoarding (a first for a chap in his lofty position). But nobody is calling the man a Billboard Bimbo. You know why? Because this man knows his onions.And right now, onions are playing a major role in our lives. Forget our obsession with gold. We are hoarding onions now.All hail the freshly minted 23rd RBI Guv — the very dishy Raghuram Govinda Rajan — the Messiah of Markets. At 50, Rajan is young (come on, SRK at 48 is still playing lover boy), brilliant (IIT-IIM-MIT vaghera, vaghera) and on the ball (ex-IMF chief economist). That his chiselled features are as sharp as his brain, add to his current status as the Poster Boy of Banking.Funny how quickly Rajan has been slotted as a much-panted-after sex symbol (he took over from Duvvuri Subbarao on September 4). He's the guy who's got the groove. I plead guilty, too.Recklessly and happily, I went ahead and tweeted (will this woman never learn?) about his appointment, calling him the Ranbir Kapoor of Banking (note the spelling — banking, there's an 'a' in this word, not an 'o'). Why not? Rajan's sex appeal has propelled him straight into the league of movie stars. He can easily top 'India's Most Desirable' lists.Had he not been in this tricky, ultra conservative (let's be upfront here, and call it tight ass) assignment, he'd have been instantly snapped up by smart celeb managers and signed juicy endorsement deals. Sorry, Raghu. But you are stuck. Deal with it.The media has declared Raghu the latest sex symbol in the land. He should lie back and enjoy the attention. It's not often that one gets an RBI Guv who makes hearts (not just female ones) go dhak dhak each time he strides into a room. I entirely endorse the positioning. Why should only comely ladies in the rarefied world of finance get branded and walk away with all the compliments?Source -http://articles.economictimes.in...