National Security Advisor (United States)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
US-WhiteHouse-Logo.svg
Jake Sullivan 2021 (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Jake Sullivan
since January 20, 2021
Executive Office of the President
Member ofNational Security Council
Homeland Security Council
Reports toPresident of the United States
AppointerPresident of the United States
Constituting instrumentNational Security Presidential Memorandum[1]
Formation1953
First holderRobert Cutler
DeputyDeputy National Security Advisor (DNSA)
WebsiteWhiteHouse.gov/NSC

The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor (NSA)[2][Note 1] is a senior aide in the Executive Office of the President, based at the West Wing of the White House. The National Security Advisor serves as the principal advisor to the President of the United States on all national security issues. The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President and does not require confirmation by the United States Senate. However, an appointment of a three or four-star General to the role requires Senate reconfirmation of military rank.[3]

The National Security Advisor participates in meetings of the National Security Council (NSC) and usually chairs meetings of the Principals Committee of the NSC with the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense (those meetings not attended by the President). The NSA also sits on the Homeland Security Council (HSC).

The National Security Advisor is supported by NSC staff who produce classified research and briefings for the National Security Advisor to review and present, either to the National Security Council or directly to the President.

Role[]

The influence and role of the National Security Advisor varies from administration to administration and depends not only on the qualities of the person appointed to the position, but also on the style and management philosophy of the incumbent president.[4] Ideally, the National Security Advisor serves as an honest broker of policy options for the president in the field of national security, rather than as an advocate for his or her own policy agenda.[5]

The National Security Advisor is a staff position in the Executive Office of the President and does not have line or budget authority over either the Department of State or the Department of Defense, unlike the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, who are Senate-confirmed officials with statutory authority over their departments.[6] The National Security Advisor is able to offer daily advice (due to the proximity) to the president independently of the vested interests of the large bureaucracies and clientele of those departments.[4]

In times of crisis, the National Security Advisor is likely to operate from the White House Situation Room or the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (as on September 11, 2001),[7] updating the president on the latest events in a crisis situation.

History[]

President George H. W. Bush meets in the Oval Office with his NSC about Operation Desert Shield, 1991

The National Security Council was created at the start of the Cold War under the National Security Act of 1947 to coordinate defense, foreign affairs, international economic policy, and intelligence; this was part of a large reorganization that saw the creation of the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency.[8][9] The Act did not create the position of the National Security Advisor per se, but it did create an executive secretary in charge of the staff. In 1949, the NSC became part of the Executive Office of the President.[8]

Robert Cutler was the first National Security Advisor in 1953, and held the job twice, both times during the Eisenhower administration. The system has remained largely unchanged since then, particularly since President John Kennedy, with powerful National Security Advisors and strong staff but a lower importance given to formal NSC meetings. This continuity persists despite the tendency of each new president to replace the advisor and senior NSC staff.[8]

President Richard Nixon's National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, enhanced the importance of the role, controlling the flow of information to the president and meeting with him multiple times per day. Kissinger also holds the distinction of serving as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State at the same time from September 22, 1973, until November 3, 1975.[8][9] He holds the record for longest term of service (2,478 days), and Michael Flynn holds the record for shortest term at just 24 days.

Brent Scowcroft held the job in two non-consecutive administrations: the Ford administration and the G.H.W. Bush administration.

List of National Security Advisors[]

No. Portrait Name Term of office[10] President(s) served under
Start End Days
1 Robert Cutler.jpg Robert Cutler (1895–1974) March 23, 1953 April 2, 1955 740 Dwight D. Eisenhower
2 Dillon Anderson (1906–1974) April 2, 1955 September 1, 1956 519
Acting William Harding Jackson.jpg William Harding Jackson (1901–1971)[11][12][13] September 1, 1956 January 7, 1957 128
3 Robert Cutler.jpg Robert Cutler (1895–1974) January 7, 1957 June 24, 1958 533
4 Gordon Gray - Project Gutenberg etext 20587.jpg Gordon Gray (1909–1982) June 24, 1958 January 13, 1961 934
5 McGeorge Bundy.jpg McGeorge Bundy (1919–1996) January 20, 1961 February 28, 1966 1865 John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
6 Walt Rostow 1968.jpg Walt Whitman Rostow (1916–2003) April 1, 1966 January 20, 1969 1025
7 Henry Kissinger.jpg Henry Kissinger (1923–) January 20, 1969 November 3, 1975 2478 Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
8 National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft at a meeting following the assassinations in Beirut, 1976 - NARA - 7064964.jpg Brent Scowcroft (1925–2020) November 3, 1975
(first appointment) 		January 20, 1977 444
9 Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1977.jpg Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928–2017) January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 1461 Jimmy Carter
10 Richard V. Allen 1981.jpg Richard V. Allen (1936–) January 21, 1981 January 4, 1982 348 Ronald Reagan
Acting James W. Nance.png James W. Nance (1921–1999)[14] November 30, 1981 January 4, 1982 37
11 William patrick clark.png William P. Clark Jr. (1931–2013) January 4, 1982 October 17, 1983 651
12 Robert Mcfarlane IAGS.jpg Robert McFarlane (1937–) October 17, 1983 December 4, 1985 779
13 Admiral John Poindexter, official Navy photo, 1985.JPEG John Poindexter (1936–) December 4, 1985 November 25, 1986 356
14 Frank Carlucci official portrait.JPEG Frank Carlucci (1930–2018) December 2, 1986 November 23, 1987 356
15 ColinPowell.JPEG Colin Powell (1937–) November 23, 1987 January 20, 1989 424
16 Brent Scowcroft.jpg Brent Scowcroft (1925–2020) January 20, 1989
(second appointment) 		January 20, 1993 1461 George H. W. Bush
17 Anthony Lake 0c175 7733.jpg Anthony Lake (1939–) January 20, 1993 March 14, 1997 1514 Bill Clinton
18 Official Portrait of United States National Security Advisor Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger.jpg Sandy Berger (1945–2015) March 14, 1997 January 20, 2001 1408
19 Condoleezza Rice cropped.jpg Condoleezza Rice (1954–) January 20, 2001[15] January 25, 2005[15] 1464 George W. Bush
20 Stephen Hadley Natl Security Advisor bio photo.jpg Stephen Hadley (1947–) January 26, 2005[15] January 20, 2009 1455
21 James L. Jones 2.jpg James L. Jones (1943–)[16] January 20, 2009 October 8, 2010 626 Barack Obama
22 Thomas Donilon.jpg Thomas E. Donilon (1955–)[17] October 8, 2010 July 1, 2013[18] 997
23 Susan Rice official photo (cropped).jpg Susan Rice (1964–)[18] July 1, 2013[18] January 20, 2017 1299
24 Michael T Flynn.jpg Michael Flynn (1958–) January 20, 2017 February 13, 2017 24 Donald Trump
Acting Keith Kellogg 2000.jpg Keith Kellogg (1944–) February 13, 2017 February 20, 2017 7
25 H.R. McMaster ARCIC 2014.jpg H. R. McMaster (1962–) February 20, 2017 April 9, 2018 412
26 John R. Bolton official photo (cropped).jpg John Bolton (1948–) April 9, 2018 September 10, 2019 520
Acting Reagan Contact Sheet C42578 (cropped).jpg Charles Kupperman (1950–) September 10, 2019 September 18, 2019 8
27 Robert C. O'Brien.jpg Robert O’Brien (1966–) September 18, 2019 January 20, 2021 490
28 Jake Sullivan 2021 (cropped).jpg Jake Sullivan (1976–)[19] January 20, 2021 Incumbent 232 Joe Biden

  Denotes acting

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Abbreviated NSA, or sometimes APNSA or ANSA in order to avoid confusion with the abbreviation of the National Security Agency.

References[]

2009-02: The National Security Advisor and Staff (PDF). WhiteHouseTransitionProject.org. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2015.

  1. ^ "National Security Presidential Memorandum–4 of April 4, 2017" (PDF).
  2. ^ The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 1.
  3. ^ "McMaster will need Senate confirmation to serve as national security adviser". Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 17-21.
  5. ^ The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 10-14.
  6. ^ See 22 U.S.C. § 2651 for the Secretary of State and 10 U.S.C. § 113 for the Secretary of Defense.
  7. ^ Clarke, Richard A. (2004). Against All Enemies. New York: Free Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-7432-6024-4.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d George, Robert Z; Harvey Rishikof (2011). The National Security Enterprise: Navigating the Labyrinth. Georgetown University Press. p. 32.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Schmitz, David F. (2011). Brent Scowcroft: Internationalism and Post-Vietnam War American Foreign Policy. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 2–3.
  10. ^ "History of the National Security Council, 1947-1997". whitehouse.gov. August 1997. Archived from the original on February 22, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2008 – via National Archives.
  11. ^ Burke, John P. (2009). Honest Broker?: The National Security Advisor and Presidential Decision Making. Texas A&M University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781603441025.
  12. ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, National Security Policy, Volume XIX". Department of State, Office of the Historian. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  13. ^ Lay, James S.; Johnson, Robert H. (1960). Organizational history of the National Security Council during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency. p. 40.
  14. ^ Weisman, Steven R. (January 2, 1982). "REAGAN REPLACING SECURITY ADVISER, OFFICIALS REPORT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b c The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 33.
  16. ^ "Key members of Obama-Biden national security team announced" (Press release). The Office of the President Elect. December 1, 2008. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  17. ^ "Donilon to replace Jones as national security adviser". CNN. October 2010. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b c Scott Wilson and Colum Lynch (June 5, 2013). "National security team shuffle may signal more activist stance at White House". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017.
  19. ^ "Biden to appoint Jake Sullivan as national security adviser". cbsnews.com.

Further reading[]

  • Falk, Stanley L. "The National Security Council under Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy." Political Science Quarterly 79.3 (1964): 403–434. online
  • George, Robert Z. and Harvey Rishikof, eds. The National Security Enterprise: Navigating the Labyrinth (2nd ed. Georgetown UP, 2017). Excerpt
  • Preston, Andrew, "The Little State Department: McGeorge Bundy and the National Security Council Staff, 1961‐65." Presidential Studies Quarterly 31.4 (2001): 635–659. Online
  • Rothkopf, David. Running the world: The inside story of the National Security Council and the architects of American power. (PublicAffairs, 2009).

External links[]

Retrieved from ""