>>> When Thomas White was named Secretary of the Army in May 2001, his official biography contained two paragraphs (numbers three and four) detailing his experience as a high-level executive at Enron. Sometime after the energy giant collapsed while upper-level management became even more filthy-rich, White's biography quietly changed. His 11 years as a bigshot at Enron suddenly were worth only a sentence, which was put at the very end of his bio, as if an afterthought. Below, The Memory Hole presents both versions side-by-side for easy comparison (with the deleted portion in blue).

You can read more about this in my article "The Incredible Shrinking Résumé of Thomas White" in the Village Voice.

White's bio before the Enron collapse

The Honorable Thomas E. White became the 18th Secretary of the Army on May 31, 2001, after nomination to that post by President Bush and confirmation by the United States Senate.

As Secretary of the Army, Secretary White has statutory responsibility for all matters relating to Army manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications, and financial management. Secretary White is responsible for the department's annual budget of nearly $70 billion. The Secretary leads a work force of just over one million active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers and 270,000 civilian employees, and has stewardship over 15 million acres of land.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary of the Army, Secretary White served as Vice Chairman of Enron Energy Services, the Enron Corporation subsidiary responsible for providing energy outsource solutions to commercial and industrial customers throughout the United States. Mr. White was responsible for the delivery component of energy management services, which included commodity management; purchasing, maintaining and operating energy assets; developing and implementing energy information services; capital management; and facilities management.

Secretary White also served as a member of Enron's Executive Committee and was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Enron Operations Corporation. He was also responsible for the Enron Engineering and Construction Company, which managed an extensive construction portfolio with domestic and international projects.

Secretary White began his public service career as an Army officer. After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, he was commissioned in the United States Army in 1967, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in 1990. His distinguished military career included two tours in Vietnam and service as Commander, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment; Commander, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, V Corps; Director, Armor/Anti-Armor Special Task Force; and Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mr. White attended the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, and graduated in 1974 with a degree in Operations Research. In 1984, he attended The United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Secretary White retired from the Army in July, 1990.

Mr. White was born in Detroit, Michigan. He and his wife, Susan, will reside in Washington, D.C.

[an archived version of this bio is available here]

White's bio after the Enron collapse

Thomas E. White became the 18th Secretary of the Army on May 31, 2001, after nomination to that post by President Bush and confirmation by the United States Senate.

As Secretary of the Army, Secretary White has statutory responsibility for all matters relating to Army manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications, and financial management. Secretary White is responsible for the department’s annual budget of nearly $82 billion. The Secretary leads a team of just over one million active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers and 220,000 civilian employees, and has stewardship over 15 million acres of land.

Secretary White is committed to the three components of the Army Vision—achieving a high quality of life for people, strengthening the Army’s readiness to prevail in every mission, and making the transformation of the Army a reality. He is also dedicated to managing the Army more efficiently.

Secretary White began his public service career as an Army officer. After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, he was commissioned in the United States Army in 1967, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in 1990. His distinguished military career included two tours in Vietnam and service as Commander, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment; Commander, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, V Corps; and Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mr. White attended the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, and graduated in 1974 with a degree in Operations Research. In 1984, he attended The United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Secretary White retired from the Army in July 1990.

From 1990 to 2001, Mr. White was employed by Enron Corporation and held various senior executive positions.

[This current version of White's bio is here.]

front page | newest additions | index + search
about | contact | donate