F . Whitten Peters Frederick Whitten Peters ( born Omaha , Nebraska , August 29 , 1946 ) is a District of Columbia lawyer and senior level public official . His law practice specializes in civil and criminal litigation including contract fraud , antitrust , tax and security cases . He has served in several key positions within the U . S . federal government , including as Secretary of the Air Force . Early life . Before Peters had entered school , his family moved to Chicago , Illinois . He grew up and attended public schools in a northern suburb of Chicago where his father had an architectural business . His father died when he was 13 . Peters went on to earn a scholarship to Harvard University from the Harvard Club of Chicago . He graduated from Harvard magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in government and economics in 1968 . In 1969 , Peters joined the United States Navy , and earned distinguished graduate honors from the Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport , Rhode Island . Because of his computer training at Harvard , he was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet Intelligence Center in Norfolk , Virginia , where he ran the computer systems division . The sensitive nature of the information he handled at the Norfolk intelligence center prevented him from assignment to a war zone and prohibited him from traveling to a number of foreign countries for 10 years following the assignment . While he was there , the intelligence center received a meritorious unit citation for discovering Russian - built submarine pens in Cuba . In February 1972 , he was released by the Navy and hired back the next day as a civilian employee to complete a special project . In August 1972 , he received Harvard ’ s Frank Knox Traveling Fellowship to attend the London School of Economics . He earned a Master of Arts degree with distinction in economics in 1973 . He then entered Harvard Law School . He served as president of the Harvard Law Review for two years , and graduated magna cum laude with a doctor of laws degree in 1976 . Law practice . Following law school , Peters clerked for several judges in the District of Columbia including Supreme Court Justice William J . Brennan . In 1978 , he joined the Williams & Connolly law firm in Washington , D . C . as an associate attorney , becoming a partner in 1984 . He remained with Williams & Connolly until 1995 . During this time , Peters also served as an adjunct lecturer teaching government contract law at Columbus School of Law and Catholic University of America , and taught advanced criminal procedure at Georgetown University Law Center . Peters served as a member of the Department of Defense Advisory Committee on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Law , and as chairman of the District of Columbia Bar Association ’ s Rules of Professional Responsibility Review Committee . Public service . In 1995 , President Bill Clinton appointed Peters as principal deputy general counsel of the Department of Defense . In this position he worked a wide range of defense issues including acquisition reform , counterterrorism , information system security , and affirmative action . In 1997 , Secretary of Defense William Cohen recommended Peters for appointment as Under Secretary of the Air Force . The President and United States Senate agreed , and he was sworn into that office on November 13 , 1997 . After Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall resigned , Peters served as acting Secretary of the Air Force for 19 months . President Clinton nominated Peters to be Secretary of the Air Force on June 2 , 1999 . The Senate confirmed his appointment on July 30 , 1999 , and he was sworn in as the nineteenth Secretary on August 3 , 1999 . During his tenure as Secretary , the Air Force demonstrated its power in the Kosovo conflict while Peters helped secure funding for the F - 22 air superiority fighter . Peters served as Air Force Secretary until January 20 , 2001 . Return to law . After leaving the Air Force in 2001 , Peters returned to the Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly as partner . He also served as vice chairman of the President ’ s Commission on the Future of the U . S . Aerospace Industry which studied America ’ s aerospace industry and assessed the future importance of that industry to the nation ’ s security within the twenty - first century global environment . The commission ’ s final report was submitted to the President and Congress on November 27 , 2002 . Peters also joined several private sector companies as a consultant or member of the board of directors . These firms included DynCorp of Reston , Virginia , where Peters took on the role of special assistant to the chief executive office in April 2001 , and Ellipso corporation where he was elected to the board of directors in May 2001 . Peters remains active in politics . During the 2008 Presidential race , Peters endorsed then - Senator Barack Obama , and was listed among the Senator ’ s foreign policy advisors .