Anita K. Blair
Encyclopedia
Anita K. Blair was one of the co-founders of the Independent Women's Forum
Independent Women's Forum
The Independent Women's Forum is an American conservative, non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institution focused on domestic and foreign policy issues of concern to women...

 (and at one time its president) and served as United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy
United States Department of the Navy
The Department of the Navy of the United States of America was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, to provide a government organizational structure to the United States Navy and, from 1834 onwards, for the United States Marine Corps, and when directed by the President, of the...

 (Total Force Transformation and Military Personnel Policy) from 2001 to 2006 and as acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
The Assistant Secretary of the Navy is a civilian office in the United States Department of the Navy...

 in 2008.

Biography

Anita K. Blair was educated at Catholic schools; the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 (B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in Classical Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

, 1971); and the University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program...

 (J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

, 1981).

In 1981, Blair established a law practice in Washington, D. C., focused on commercial law
Commercial law
Commercial law is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions...

 and litigation.

In 1991, in the midst of the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination
Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination
On July 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court of the United States to replace Thurgood Marshall, who had announced his retirement...

 controversy, Blair joined an ad hoc group called "Women for Judge Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....

". Blair and two other women involved in this organization, Rosalie (Ricky) Gaull Silberman
Rosalie (Ricky) Gaull Silberman
Ricky Silberman was an American conservative activist who, with Barbara Olson, co-founded the Independent Women's Forum.-Biography:...

 and Barbara Olson
Barbara Olson
Barbara Olson was a lawyer and conservative American television commentator who worked for CNN, Fox News Channel, and several other outlets...

, subsequently co-founded the Independent Women's Forum
Independent Women's Forum
The Independent Women's Forum is an American conservative, non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institution focused on domestic and foreign policy issues of concern to women...

 (IWF) in 1992, serving as the organization's first General Counsel
General Counsel
A general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...

 and as executive vice-president. She later served as the organization's president. The IWF advocates equity feminism, as opposed to gender feminism (i.e. supporting gender roles, though opposing patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...

). The IWF's slogan is "All Issues are Women's Issues", and the group speaks out on all manner of political issues, usually from the perspective of Conservatism in the United States
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...

. The IWF's mission statement says its goal is to build "greater respect for limited government
Limited government
Limited government is a government which anything more than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is generally disallowed by law, usually in a written constitution. It is written in the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 8...

, equality under the law, property rights, free markets, strong families
Family values
Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....

, and a powerful and effective national defense
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...

 and foreign policy." Blair also maintained an active law practice throughout the 1990s, and was active in the Virginia State Bar
Virginia State Bar
Created in 1938, The Virginia State Bar is the administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia whose purpose is to regulate, improve and advance the legal profession in Virginia. The Bar was established by an act of the Virginia General Assembly and is delegated the power to issue...

, serving on the Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar Section on Antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...

, Franchise
Exclusive right
In Anglo-Saxon law, an exclusive right is a de facto, non-tangible prerogative existing in law to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right to perform the same action or to acquire the same benefit. A "prerogative" is in effect an exclusive right...

 and Trade Regulation
Trade regulation
Trade regulation is a field of law, often bracketed with antitrust , including government regulation of unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive business acts or practices. Antitrust law is often considered a subset of trade regulation law...

 Law, which she chaired in 1998-1999.

Blair authored amicus briefs in several high-profile United States constitutional law
United States constitutional law
United States constitutional law is the body of law governing the interpretation and implementation of the United States Constitution.- Introduction :United States constitutional law defines the scope and application of the terms of the Constitution...

 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

, most notably United States v. Virginia
United States v. Virginia
United States v. Virginia, , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Virginia Military Institute's long-standing male-only admission policy in a 7-1 decision...

. In U.S. v. Virginia, the IWF argued in favor of a plaintiff who challenged the male-only policy of the Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

. Blair was at the time a member of the Board of Visitors of the Virginia Military Institute, having been appointed by Governor of Virginia
Governor of Virginia
The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia....

 George Allen
George Allen (U.S. politician)
George Felix Allen is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former NFL head coach George Allen. Allen served Virginia in the state legislature, as the 67th Governor, and in both bodies of the U.S. Congress, winning election to the Senate in 2000...

. In the wake of U.S. v. Virginia the Virginia Military Institute appointed Blair to chair its Assimilation Review Task Force to oversee the admission of women to VMI. Governor Jim Gilmore
Jim Gilmore
James Stuart "Jim" Gilmore III is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia, former 68th Governor of Virginia, and a member of the Republican Party. A native Virginian, Gilmore studied at the University of Virginia, and then served in the U.S. Army as a counterintelligence agent...

 re-appointed Blair to the Board of Visitors in 1999.

In 1998, Blair was appointed to the Congressional Commission on Military Training and Gender-Related Issues, a commission focusing on the issue of women in the military, and looking at issues such as rules on adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...

, fraternization
Fraternization
Fraternization is "turning people into brothers"—conducting social relations with people who are actually unrelated and/or of a different class as though they were siblings, family members, personal friends or lovers....

 and sexual conduct
Human sexual behavior
Human sexual activities or human sexual practices or human sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons...

 in the military, as well as the effectiveness of military basic training
Basic Training
Basic Training may refer to:* Basic Training, a 1971 American documentary directed by Frederick Wiseman* Basic Training , an American sex comedy* Recruit training...

.

In 2001, President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 appointed Blair as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Military Personnel Policy); she was sworn in on August 15, 2001 and held that office until July 2006. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Military Personnel Policy), Blair oversaw the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

's recruiting and retention; training and education; active duty strength and compensation; character, leadership development, and equal opportunity; health affairs; counter drug programs; family support; and morale, welfare and recreation.

In February 2005, Blair became Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Total Force Transformation), giving her responsibility for the United States Department of the Navy
United States Department of the Navy
The Department of the Navy of the United States of America was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, to provide a government organizational structure to the United States Navy and, from 1834 onwards, for the United States Marine Corps, and when directed by the President, of the...

's human capital transformation agenda and modernization of the management of the Department’s total force of active duty, reserve, civilian and contractor personnel.

On September 18, 2007, President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 nominated Blair as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
The Assistant Secretary of the Navy is a civilian office in the United States Department of the Navy...

. Blair was never confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, but on January 8, 2008, she assumed the duties of acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), while retaining her post as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Total Force Transformation). Harvey C. Barnum, Jr.
Harvey C. Barnum, Jr.
Colonel Harvey Curtiss Barnum, Jr. , is a retired United States Marine Corps officer who received the Medal of Honor for valor during the Vietnam War. He was the fourth Marine to receive the medal for valor in Vietnam. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1989 after more than 27 years of service...

replaced Blair as acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) in January 2009.
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