Patrick Michael Shanahan is a former United States federal government official who served as acting U.S. Secretary of Defense in 2019. President Donald Trump appointed Shanahan to the role after the resignation of Retired General James N. Mattis. Shanahan served as Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2019. He previously spent 30 years at Boeing in a variety of roles.
The White House announced on May 9, 2019, that Trump intended to nominate Shanahan as the Secretary of Defense.
