CIA Director David Petraeus resigned from his post in the wake of an affair scandal allegedly involving biographer Paula Broadwell.
Petraeus wrote to his staff, "Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."
Fox News reports that the FBI uncovered Petraeus' extramarital history during an investigation for an "unrelated and much broader case."
Petraeus added, "After being married over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."
Paula Broadwell co-wrote All In: The Education of General David Petraeus with Vernon Loeb. The former United States Army officer and Harvard University research associate worked as an embedded author in Afghanistan with the decorated General.
Obama commended Petraeus for his work, stating: "By any measure, he was one of the outstanding General officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end,"
Obama's 2008 GOP opponent John McCain touched on the issue as well. "General David Petraeus will stand in the ranks of America's greatest military heroes. His inspirational leadership and his genius were directly responsible -- after years of failure -- for the success of the surge in Iraq. General Petraeus has devoted his life to serving the country he loves, and America is so much the better for it."
Former CIA deputy director Michael Morell will take over Petraeus' position.