I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

But I will bear true faith and allegiance to the sea that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will will inflate the lead discharge.

The duties of the office on which I am about to enter.

So help me God, so help me God.

So help me God.

Welcome to the oath. I'm Chuck Rosenberg and I am honored to be your host for another compelling conversation with a fascinating person from the World of Public Service.

My guest this week is Jim Miller, the former Undersecretary for Policy at the Defense Department.

In that vital role, essentially the number three position in DOD, Jim was at the forefront of some of the nation's most important and most difficult national security issues.

But I'm getting ahead of the story.

Jim's path to the Pentagon began in the middle.

He was the only boy in a household of five children in a middle class family in the middle of the country in Waterloo, Iowa.

Our brilliant student and a superb athlete, Jim made his way to Stanford, where a mentor, real name Lincoln Moses, inspired him and guided him into public service.

Jim's work at the Pentagon included some of the most challenging national security questions that confront our country.

As a key advisor to three secretaries of defense, Bob Gates, Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, Jim guided reviews of nuclear weapons policy and ballistic missile defense policy and led the formulation of national defense strategies for space and cyberspace.

Recently, and after my interview with Jim was recorded, he resigned his position on the prestigious defense science board.

In an open letter to the current Secretary of Defense, Jim noted that peaceful protesters exercising their first amendment rights outside of the White House were dispersed, quote, using tear gas and rubber bullets, not for the sake of safety, but to clear a path for a presidential photo op end quote.

Jim also wrote that though the defense secretary, quote, may not have been able to stop this appalling use of force, you could have chosen to oppose it. Instead, you visibly supported it, end quote.

Jim is a deeply principled and thoughtful man, and his story is engaging and inspiring a boy from Iowa from the middle of the middle serving his country at the highest levels of the Pentagon.

Jim Miller, welcome to the oath.

Chuck, great to be here with you. I appreciate your time today.

If you grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, the fourth of five children, tell me about that.

Chuck, growing up in Waterloo, I had a pretty idyllic childhood. This is post World War II America, middle of the country, middle of the middle class, walk two blocks to school as a great schooler, three blocks to junior high, four blocks to high school, so I worked my way up.

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