Michael Brown, 2005 News

director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), faced scathing criticism in September for his handling of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that followed in New Orleans when levees broke. Brown epitomized the agency's failure to grasp the scope of the crisis when he revealed on CNN that he had no idea that thousands of people had been stranded for days in putrid conditions in New Orleans's Convention Center without food or water. Brown resigned shortly after President Bush removed him from the relief effort. A lawyer, Brown worked for the International Arabian Horse Association before joining FEMA.