Lynn has not been a registered lobbyist since July 2008, the Associated Press reported.
If confirmed by the Senate, Lynn will become the second-highest ranking official in the Department of Defense under current Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Lynn is currently the senior vice president for government operations at Raytheon, the major American defense contractor. In this role, he has served as Raytheon's liaison to local, state and federal authorities.
Obama promised not to appoint recent lobbyists to his team during a November 2007 campaign speech in Des Moines, Iowa.
"I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over," Obama said. "I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president."
Many in the political community have raised questions about Lynn's appointment.
"He left public service and went into lobbying for one of the largest defense contractors in the nation, and that's the part that's troubling," Bill Buzenberg, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity said in an interview with the Associated Press. "Even if he's completely above-board and ethical, it raises questions about his loyalty."
Government watchdog groups have similarly accused former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Obama's choice for secretary of Health and Human Services, of having lobbyist ties. Daschle joined the law firm Alston and Bird as a special policy adviser in their legislative and public policy group in 2007 following his time in the U.S. Senate. Although he is not a registered lobbyist, his firm was paid $3.48 million to represent companies in the health industry, Bloomberg reported. Ron Klain, chief of staff for Vice President-elect Joe Biden, is also a former registered lobbyist, representing the Federal National Mortgage Association until 2004, ABC News reported.
Dartmouth history professor emeritus Gregory Prince, Lynn's thesis advisor, said he does not think Lynn's lobbyist ties will affect his ability to serve as deputy secretary. Prince, a former president of Hampshire College who has worked as an education lobbyist, said there are two types of lobbyists: those with intellectual principles and those without. He classified Lynn as the former.
"He lobbied for prospects that were critical for the country," Prince said. "He lobbied for principles, not just who would pay him the best dollar."
Prince stressed the importance of the analytical skills he believed Lynn acquired during his time at Dartmouth.
"I think a liberal arts education prepares individuals so they are not technicians but critical thinkers," Prince said. "What I know of his character is he's not there because he's technically proficient in military history or the military; he's there because he's a critical thinker in the issues that engage the military."
Obama has selected Michele Flournoy as under secretary of defense for policy, Robert Hale as Pentagon comptroller and Jeh Charles Johnson as general counsel.
"I am confident that these distinguished individuals have the expertise and commitment needed to help me implement a sustainable national security strategy that combats 21st century threats and keeps the American people safe," Obama said in a Jan. 12, 2009 press release.
At Dartmouth, Lynn was a history major, earning "high distinction" on his senior thesis, according to history department chairwoman Margaret Darrow. Lynn also served as treasurer of Zeta Psi fraternity and was a freshman Dartmouth Outing Club trip leader. After graduating from the College, Lynn earned a law degree from Cornell Law School and a master's degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
Lynn served as the under secretary of defense from 1997 to 2001, acting as the chief financial officer for the Department of Defense and as the principal adviser on budgetary matters to the secretary of defense, according to a biography posted on Change.gov, the Obama transition team's web site. He also previously worked for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., as a liaison to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Attempts to reach Lynn through Obama's transition team press office were not successful. Officials at Raytheon declined to comment.
