Robert Bruce Charles[1] (born 23 August 1960)[2] is an American lawyer and Republican political figure. He was assistant secretary of state at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs for eighteen months from October 2003 to March 2005.[3] He is a candidate for Governor of Maine in the 2026 election.[4]
From 1995 through late 1999, Charles was served as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight under chairmen Bill Zeliff, Dennis Hastert and John Mica. He was also senior staffer to the Speaker's Task Force on a Drug-Free America and U.S. House Bi-Partisan Drug Policy Group during this period.
From 1998 through 2009, Charles was Naval Intelligence Officer (USNR) at the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and in the Pentagon, with the Chief of Naval Intelligence - Intelligence Plot (CNO-IP).
From October 4, 2003 to March 15, 2005, Charles was Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).[10]
Charles is currently the President and Managing Member of The Charles Group, LLC, a Washington, DC-based consulting firm.[11]
His management style was detailed in State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,[12]Seeds of Terror,[13] and The New York Times.[14]
Charles has produced dozens of articles and columns, as well as book chapters,[16] law review articles,[17] and the book Narcotics and Terrorism, a 2004 volume explaining national and homeland security implications tied to drug trafficking. He has also appeared on a variety of media, including C-SPAN, 60 Minutes, cable and as a Fox News Opinion Contributor.
His second book, Eagles and Evergreens (North Country Press, 2018), contains 45 stories on growing up in rural Maine under the influence of WWII veterans, celebrating non-partisan values they passed along. Eagles and Evergreens got endorsed by The Washington Post, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, Apollo 11 astronaut and Korean War veteran Buzz Aldrin, and the Chief Speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, Tony Dolan, as well as others.[18]
His latest book, Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness (Tower Publishing, 2024), draws on interviews conducted by the author with individuals from Maine and beyond to trace "American nobility" and "goodness in motion."[19]
↑ A Noble Calling: Character and the George H.W. Bush Presidency, ed. W. Leventrosser, R. Perotti (Praeger, 2004); Theodore Roosevelt: Many-Sided American, ed. N. Naylor, D. Brinkley, J. Gable (1994); “The Invisible Thread: Free Market Forces in Pre- and Post-Soviet Russia” in Government Structures in the U.S.A. and the Sovereign States of the Former U.S.S.R.: Power Allocation Among Central, Regional, and Local Governments, ed. J. Hickey, A. Ugrinsky, Greenwood Press (1996).
↑ “Legal Education in the Late Nineteenth Century, Through the Eyes of Theodore Roosevelt,” American Journal of Legal History 37 (3) 233-272 (1993); “Back to the Future: The Collapse of National Drug Control Policy and a Blueprint for Revitalizing the Nation’s Counternarcotics Effort,” Harvard Journal on Legislation v.33 339 (1996); “American Influence on the Indian Constitution: Focus on Equal Protection of the Laws,” Columbia University Law, Human Rights Law Review v. 17, no, 2, Spring-Summer (1986); “Computer Bulletin Boards and Defamation: Who Should Be Liable? Under What Standard?” Georgetown University Law, Journal of Law & Technology v. 2, no. 1, Winter (1987); “Liability for On Line Libel After Stratton Oakmont Inc. v. Prodigy Services Co.” Connecticut Law Review v.28 (Summer 1996).
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