Zakheim joined the United States Department of Defense in 1981 after serving as a principal analyst in the Congressional Budget Office. He served in various Department of Defense posts during the Reagan administration,including Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Planning and Resources from 1985 to 1987. There was some controversy in both the U.S. and Israel over Zakheim's involvement in ending the Israeli fighter program,the IAI Lavi. He argued that Israeli and U.S. interests would be best served by having Israel purchase F-16 fighters,rather than investing in an entirely new aircraft. He left government service in 1987 and joined the technology and analysis firm System Planning Corporation as its corporate vice president.[7]
From 1987 to 2001,Zakheim was CEO of SPC International,a subsidiary of System Planning Corporation,a high-technology analytical firm. During that period,he served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense,and sat on a number of major Department of Defense panels,including its Task Force on Defense Reform (1997) and the Department of Defense first Board of Visitors of Overseas Regional Centers (1998–2001).
Zakheim was appointed as Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) in May 2001 in George W. Bush administration,and served in the capacity until July 2004.[11][12] During his term as comptroller,he was tasked to trace the Pentagon's 2.3 trillion dollars' worth of unaccounted transactions.[13] He also played an active role in the department's system acquisition,strategic planning,programming,and budget process.[7] He was succeeded by Tina W. Jonas as the top budget official at the DoD.[14]
Zakheim is a member of the editorial boards of the journal The National Interest and Naval War College Press. He is vice chairman of the board of trustees of the Foreign Policy Research Institute,a trustee of the American University of Iraq,and a member of the Atlantic Council's board of directors,.[16] on the Board of the Friends of the Jewish Chapel of the United States Naval Academy and on the Board of Control of the Naval Academy Athletic Association. He publishes a regular column in The Hill.
He is a three-time recipient of the Department of Defense's highest civilian award,the Distinguished Public Service Medal,as well as other awards for government and community service. He is also co-vice chair of Global Panel America with Malcolm Rifkind.
His 2011 book,A Vulcan’s Tale:How the Bush Administration Mismanaged the Reconstruction of Afghanistan,discusses the Bush administration's missed opportunities and struggles to manage two wars,particularly the seemingly endless conflict in Afghanistan.[14]
In the 2020 presidential election,Zakheim,along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials,signed a statement that asserted that President Donald Trump was unfit to serve another term,and "To that end,we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States,and we will vote for him."[17]
1 2 Security Challenges Arising from the Global Financial Crisis: Hearing Before the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First Session, Hearing Held March 11, 2009. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2010. p.65. ISBN978-0-16-086270-0.
1 2 Zakheim, Dov S. (2011). A Vulcan's Tale: How the Bush Administration Mismanaged the Reconstruction of Afghanistan. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. ISBN978-0-8157-2126-0. OCLC731207950.
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