Michele Flournoy doesn't want to be defense secretary

Andy Wong/AP

Looks like President Obama won't likely be getting the first female Secretary of Defense after all.

Michele Flournoy, a former top Defense official widely thought to be a possible replacement for departing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, told Obama this week that she doesn't want the job.

Flournoy spoke with the President Monday night, hours after Hagel announced his resignation, telling him she wasn't interested in the post due to family responsibilities.

'After much agonizing, we decided that now was not the right time for me to reenter government,' she said.

Flournoy, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, revealed her decision in a letter on Tuesday to the board of the think tank she co-founded, Center for a New American Security, according to Foreign Policy magazine.

Her disinterest in the promotion comes after she exited government in 2012.

She served under former Secretary Robert Gates, who mentioned Flournoy in his memoir 'Duty,' saying there were few aides 'whose judgement I trusted more.'

Last night I spoke with President Obama and removed myself from consideration due to family concerns. After much agonizing, we decided that now was not the right time for me to reenter government

Flournoy, 53, is married to former Secretary of Veterans Affairs W. Scott Gould.

The couple has three children, the youngest who is aged 13, and the family resides in Bethesda, Md.

After Hagel's ouster/resignation, Flournoy's name was included on the list of possible replacements that was circulated in the media, along with Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Ashton Carter, former deputy secretary of defense.

Reed has also said he is not interested in being considered for the post.

'Senator Reed loves his job and wants to continue serving the people of Rhode Island in the United States senate,' Reed's office said in a statement.

'He has made it very clear that he does not wish to be considered for secretary of defense or any other Cabinet position. He just asked the people of Rhode Island to hire him for another six-year term and plans to honor that commitment.'

llarson@nydailynews.com