William Schneider, Jr.

Who is William Schneider, Jr.?

William J. Schneider, Jr. is an American who has served in a number of prominent federal government positions.

Schneider served as Under-Secretary of State in the Reagan administration, and later became a member of the Project for the New American Century. He was one of the signers of the January 26, 1998, PNAC Letter sent to President Bill Clinton that encouraged an attack against Iraq. In that same year he served on the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States, which came to the conclusion that Iraq could develop a ballistic missile capable of striking the US in ten years.

In January 2001, as President George W. Bush prepared to take office, Schneider served on a panel for nuclear weapons issues sponsored by the National Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank. Other members of the panel included Stephen Hadley, Stephen Cambone, and Robert Joseph, who later were appointed to senior positions in the Bush administration. This panel advocated using tactical nuclear weapons as a standard part of the United States defense arsenal.