David Howell Petraeus is an American former military officer and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) from July 4, 2010 to July 18, 2011. His other four-star assignments include serving as the 10th Commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) from October 13, 2008, to June 30, 2010, and as Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I) from February 10, 2007, to September 16, 2008. As commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq.
Extramarital affair and resignation:
According to Petraeus associate Steven A. Boylan, Petraeus began an affair with Paula Broadwell, principal author of his biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, several months after his August 2011 return to civilian life. Petraeus ended the affair in the summer of 2012.
The FBI began to investigate after Jill Kelley, a longstanding friend of Petraeus and an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base, which is home to the headquarters of the United States Central Command, complained of harassing emails she was receiving. After the emails were traced to Broadwell, investigators noted that Broadwell appeared to be exchanging intimate messages with an email account belonging to Petraeus, instigating an investigation into whether that account had been hacked into or was someone posing as Petraeus.
At about 5 p.m. on November 6, 2012, the FBI advised James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, about the investigation. Clapper called Petraeus and, according to the Washington Post, “urged him to resign.” Clapper notified the White House on November 7. After being briefed on November 8, President Obama summoned Petraeus to the White House where Petraeus offered his resignation. Obama accepted the resignation on November 9, and Petraeus cited the affair in announcing that same day that he would be resigning as CIA Director
[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus]