Little Neck's Own: George Tenet

George Tenet would go on to become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, but he started his career at Little Neck’s now-defunct Scobee Diner.

Tenet was born in Flushing, but moved at an early age with his parents to Little Neck, where he attended , and Benjamin N. Cardozo High School.

He and his brother worked as busboys at the popular Scobee’s Diner, .

After graduating from Georgetown University in 1976, he received a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.

In the late 1970s, he began working as a legislative assistant – and, later, legislative director – to U.S. Sen. John Heinz III.

He began work as a staff member for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the mid-1980s and then joined President Bill Clinton’s national security transition team.

The president appointed Tenet to be the senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council in 1993.

Two years later, he was appointed deputy director of central intelligence. In 1997, he officially became its director after an unanimous confirmation vote in the Senate.

Tenet served through the end of the Clinton administration and well into George W. Bush’s administration. Typically, CIA directors are replaced when administrations change.

In 1999, Tenet put into action a plan to deal with the rising threat of the al-Qaeda terrorist network by utilizing U.S. and Afghan agents.

Tenet and his agency came under attack for intelligence failures following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The agency – under Tenet’s leadership – later drew controversy after Bush authorized the torture method of water boarding during interrogations of suspected terrorists.

Journalist Bob Woodward wrote in his book “Plan of Attack” that Tenet told Bush that the CIA had a “slam dunk case” to justify an invasion of Iraq on the grounds that the nation was hiding weapons of mass destruction.

But Tenet later said his comment was taken out of context.

Tenet submitted his resignation in 2004 and, later that year, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

His tenure at the CIA was the second-longest in U.S. history.