General David Petraeus has achieved the status of hero in the US, mainly because of his performance in Iraq, which helped build a reputation that could eventually propel him into the White House.
There was speculation, given the failure of the existing bunch of Republican candidates to generate much excitement, that Petraeus might stand against Barack Obama next year. That was always unlikely. But he would be a formidable candidate in 2016, and the CIA job will help him, broadening out his experience beyond the military.
Petraeus has denied that he has political ambitions, but on trips back from Iraq and now Afghanistan, he behaves as if he is preparing the ground. He makes speeches at thinktanks and is not shy of interviews, unlike many of his military comrades.
His career might have ended in 1991 when he was shot in the chest during an exercise in the US, after a soldier tripped and discharged his rifle. The incident added to Petraeus's reputation; he was released early, after demonstrating to doctors he was fit enough by doing 50 push-ups within days of the shooting.
Some former CIA staff have criticised his appointment, arguing that the next director needs to be from within the intelligence community. But Petraeus has long argued in favour of better intelligence within the military. As head of US central command before moving to Afghanistan last year, he signed an order to broaden the scope of surveillance and other undercover work in the Middle East, central Asia and the Horn of Africa. That marked a shift away from conventional warfare, a recognition the main threat to US interests is posed by insurgents, not states.
There is often friction between military intelligence and the CIA, but the latter argued at the time that this expansion would not lead to conflict because the military would only become involved in operations that the CIA could not carry out.
Petraeus, 58, graduated near the top of his class at the US military academy at West Point in 1974 and, ever since, has continued academic studies alongside his military duties. He completed a PhD in international relations at Princeton in 1987.
He was commander of US and allied forces in Iraq from 2007 to 2008, overseeing the surge in US troops seen in the US as having helped turn the war. He then became head of US central command, and in July last year took over as commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan after Obama sacked General Stanley McChrystal.
Petraeus is a specialist in counter-insurgency and oversaw the writing of the army/marine corps counter-insurgency manual. He tried to reduce civilian deaths in Afghanistan from US and allied forces and earlier this year, in an unusual departure for a US commander, apologised publicly after one such incident sparked protests.
He has overseen a surge of 30,000 US troops in Afghanistan and these have been deployed mainly in the south and east of the country, fighting for the first time over the winter to try to deny the Taliban their usual strongholds. The test of that strategy will come now, as the Taliban return for spring offensives.
Petraeus had been due to remain in Afghanistan until the end of the year and, in terms of his political domestic ambitions, it may be good for him to leave early, as Afghanistan is proving more difficult than Iraq. He had coveted the most senior military job, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, which Admiral Mike Mullen is due to vacate later this year. But the CIA post is better for a move into politics. He would not be the first president with a CIA background: George H Bush was once a director.
