Secretary Austin: ‘I Did Not Handle This Right’

Austin: “But in my first week back in the Pentagon, I did want to address my recent hospital stay and some of the issues around it. I’m recovering well, but as you can see, I’m still recovering, still having some leg pain and doing physical therapy to get past it. I’m deeply grateful to my doctors and the nursing staff at Walter Reed. And I very much appreciate all the good wishes. But I want to be crystal clear, we did not handle this right, I did not handle this right. I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and to the American people. Now, I want to make it very clear that there were no gaps in authorities and no risk to the department’s command and control. At every moment, either I or the deputy secretary was in full charge. And we’ve already put in place some new procedures to make sure that any lapses in notification don’t happen. In the future if the deputy secretary needs to temporarily assume the office the — the duties of my office, she and several White House offices will be immediately notified, including the White House Situation Room, so will key officials across the department. And the reason for that assumption of duties will be included in writing.

Now, I want you all to know that — to know why this happened. I was being treated for prostate cancer — the news shook me, and I know that it shakes so many others, especially in the black community. It was a gut punch. And frankly, my first instinct was to keep it private. I don’t think it’s news that I’m a pretty private guy, I never like to burdening others with my problems. It’s just not my way. But I’ve learned from this experience. So taking this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect. The American people have a right to know if their leaders are facing health challenges that might affect their ability to perform their duties, even temporarily. So a wider circle should have been notified, especially the president.”