Michele Leonhart

Michele Leonhart
10th Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration
In office
December 22, 2010  May 14, 2015
Acting: November 10, 2007 – December 22, 2010
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded byKaren Tandy
Succeeded byAnne Milgram (2021)
Personal details
Born (1956-02-27) February 27, 1956
Alma materBemidji State University (BCJ)

Michele Marie Leonhart (born February 27, 1956) is an American career law enforcement officer who served as the tenth Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from 2010 to 2015, as well as in an acting capacity from 2007 to 2010 after the resignation of Administrator Karen P. Tandy in the fall of 2007. On February 2, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Leonhart for the position of DEA Administrator.

Leonhart's tenure as DEA Administrator was marked with controversy and scandals including a prostitution scandal; by the end of her service in April 2015, a bipartisan group of lawmakers declared that they had no confidence in her leadership. On April 21, she conveyed to Attorney General Eric Holder that she intended to resign the following month.