Crowley was educated at the College of the Holy Cross, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1973. He joined the United States Air Force in June 1973. He spent 26 years in the Air Force, and was stationed in New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington, Turkey, and Germany.
In 2001, Crowley became a vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, specializing in the impact of terrorism on insurance in the wake of the September 11 attacks. He then joined the Center for American Progress as a senior fellow in 2003, later becoming the Center's director of national defense and homeland security.
He was noted for his dry wit: when reminding Americans on the ban on visiting North Korea, he pointed out on Twitter that "we only have a handful of former presidents" to visit North Korea and retrieve captured Americans.[5] He was forced to apologize to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi after telling an interviewer that Gaddafi's speech to the United Nations did not make "a lot of sense".[6]
His remarks, revealed in Thomas's blog,[11] caused anger in the White House.[12] On March 13, 2011, Crowley resigned from office.[13] In his resignation letter, Crowley stood by his remarks, writing that while the "unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a serious crime under U.S. law", the "exercise of power in today's challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values".[14]
