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General David Howell Petraeus, USA (born November 7, 1952) is the 10th and current Commander, U.S. Central Command. Petraeus previously served as Commanding General, Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) from January 26, 2007 to September 16, 2008. As Commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq. Petraeus was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College—class of 1983. He subsequently earned a M.P.A. degree (1985) and a Ph.D. degree (1987) in International Relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He later served as Assistant Professor of International Relations at the U.S. Military Academy and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University. He has a BS from the U.S. Military Academy—class of 1974—from which he graduated as a distinguished cadet (top 5% of his class).
A poll recently conducted by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines selected Petraeus as one of the world's top 100 public intellectuals. And in April of this year, the Static Line Association named Petraeus as its 2008 Man of the Year. In 2007, Time named Petraeus one of the 100 most influential leaders and revolutionaries of the year as well as one of its four runners up for Time Person of the Year. He was also named the second most influential American conservative by The Daily Telegraph as well as The Daily Telegraph's 2007 Man of the Year and " America's most respected soldier" by Der Spiegel in 2008. In 2005, Petraeus was selected as one of America's top leaders by US News and World Report. Some news reports have speculated that Petraeus may have interest in running for the presidency. Despite these accounts, Petraeus has categorically stated that he has no political ambitions. Most recently, GQ Magazine (December 2008) named Petraeus as the "Leader of the Year: Right Man, Right Time", Newsweek named him the 16th most powerful person in the world in its December 20, 2008 edition, and Prospect magazine named him the "Public Intellectual of the Year".
Petraeus was born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, the son of Miriam (née Howell) and Sixtus Petraeus. His mother was American and his father was a sea captain who had immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands during the initial phase of World War II. Sixtus settled in Cornwall on Hudson, where David Petraeus grew up and graduated from Cornwall Central High School in 1970. Residents called him 'Peaches' in reference to his often-mispronounced last name and the nickname stuck with him as a cadet.
Petraeus then went on to the U.S. Military Academy in nearby West Point. Petraeus was on the intercollegiate soccer and ski teams, was a cadet captain on the brigade staff, and was a "distinguished cadet" academically, graduating in the top 5% of the Class of 1974 (ranked 43rd overall). In the class yearbook, Petraeus was remembered as "always going for it in sports, academics, leadership, and even his social life."
Two months after graduation Petraeus married Holly Knowlton, a graduate from Dickinson College and daughter of Army General William A. Knowlton who was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy ( West Point) at the time. They have two grown children, Anne and Stephen.
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