National Security Advisor (United States)
| Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Executive Office of the President National Security Council staff |
|
| Reports to | The President |
| Appointer | The President |
| Constituting instrument | The post is defined by the current executive order defining the work of the National Security Council. |
| Formation | 1953 |
| First holder | Robert Cutler |
| Deputy | Deputy National Security Advisor |
| Website | The White House |
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor (NSA) or at times informally termed the NSC advisor,[1][2] is a senior aide in the Executive Office of the President, based at the West Wing of the White House, who serves as the chief in-house advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues. The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President and does not require confirmation by the Senate,[3] but an appointment of a three or four-star general to the role requires Senate reconfirmation of military rank.[4]
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 (i.e., the meetings not attended by the President). The National Security Advisor is supported by NSC staff who produce research and briefings for the National Security Advisor to review and present, either to the National Security Council or directly to the President.
Contents
Role[edit]
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.[5] 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.[6]
However, 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;[7] but 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.[5]
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[8]), updating the President on the latest events in a crisis situation.
History[edit]
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.[9][10] 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.[9]
Robert Cutler was the first National Security Advisor in 1953. 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.[9]
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 him multiple times per day. Kissinger also holds the distinction of serving as National Security Advisor and United States Secretary of State at the same time from September 22, 1973, until November 3, 1975.[9][10]
List of National Security Advisors[edit]
| Portrait | Name | Term of office[11] | President(s) served under | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Days | |||
 |
Robert Cutler (1895–1974) | March 23, 1953 | April 2, 1955 | 740 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
 |
Dillon Anderson (1906–1974) | April 2, 1955 | September 1, 1956 | 519 | |
 |
William H. Jackson (1901–1971) | September 1, 1956 | January 7, 1957 | 129 | |
|
Robert Cutler (1895–1974) | January 7, 1957 | June 24, 1958 | 533 | |
 |
Gordon Gray (1909–1982) | June 24, 1958 | January 13, 1961 | 934 | |
 |
McGeorge Bundy (1919–1996) | January 20, 1961 | February 28, 1966 | 1865 | John F. Kennedy |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | |||||
 |
Walt W. Rostow (1916–2003) | April 1, 1966 | January 20, 1969 | 1025 | |
 |
Henry Kissinger (1923–) | January 20, 1969 | November 3, 1975 | 2478 | Richard Nixon |
| Gerald Ford | |||||
 |
Brent Scowcroft (1925–) | November 3, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | 444 | |
 |
Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928–2017) | January 20, 1977 | January 20, 1981 | 1461 | Jimmy Carter |
 |
Richard V. Allen (1936–) | January 21, 1981 | January 4, 1982 | 348 | Ronald Reagan |
 |
William P. Clark, Jr. (1931–2013) | January 4, 1982 | October 17, 1983 | 651 | |
 |
Robert McFarlane (1937–) | October 17, 1983 | December 4, 1985 | 779 | |
 |
John Poindexter (1936–) | December 4, 1985 | November 25, 1986 | 356 | |
 |
Frank Carlucci (1930–) | December 2, 1986 | November 23, 1987 | 356 | |
 |
Colin Powell (1937–) | November 23, 1987 | January 20, 1989 | 424 | |
 |
Brent Scowcroft (1925–) | January 20, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | 1461 | George H. W. Bush |
 |
Anthony Lake (1939–) | January 20, 1993 | March 14, 1997 | 1514 | Bill Clinton |
 |
Sandy Berger (1945–2015) | March 14, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | 1408 | |
 |
Condoleezza Rice (1954–) | January 22, 2001[12] | January 25, 2005[12] | 1464 | George W. Bush |
 |
Stephen Hadley (1947–) | January 26, 2005[12] | January 20, 2009 | 1455 | |
 |
James Jones (1943–)[13] | January 20, 2009 | October 8, 2010 | 626 | Barack Obama |
 |
Tom Donilon (1955–)[14] | October 8, 2010 | July 1, 2013[15] | 997 | |
 |
Susan Rice (1964–)[15] | July 1, 2013[15] | January 20, 2017 | 1299 | |
 |
Michael Flynn (1958–) | January 20, 2017 | February 13, 2017 | 24 | Donald Trump |
 |
Keith Kellogg (1944–) Acting |
February 13, 2017 | February 20, 2017 | 7 | |
 |
H. R. McMaster (1962–) | February 20, 2017 | Incumbent | 286 days | |
Brent Scowcroft is the only person to have held the job in two non-consecutive administrations: in the Ford administration and in the George H. W. Bush administration. Robert Cutler also held the job twice, both times under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Henry Kissinger holds the record for longest term of service (2,478 days). Michael Flynn holds the record for shortest term of service (24 days).
Three and four-star generals require Senate confirmation due to the statutory nature requiring Congress to appoint their military rank.[4] The current National Security Adviser, H. R. McMaster, is a three-star lieutenant general and his military rank was reconfirmed by the Senate on March 15, 2017.[16][17]
See also[edit]
- United States National Security Council
- Executive Office of the President
- Homeland Security Council
- Homeland Security Advisor
References[edit]
2009-02: The National Security Advisor and Staff (PDF). WhiteHouseTransitionProject.org. 2009.
- ^ The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 1.
- ^ Abbreviated NSA, or sometimes APNSA or ANSA in order to avoid confusion with the abbreviation of the National Security Agency.
- ^ The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 29.
- ^ a b "McMaster will need Senate confirmation to serve as national security adviser". Archived from the original on 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
- ^ a b The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 17-21.
- ^ The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 10-14.
- ^ See 22 U.S.C. § 2651 for the Secretary of State and 10 U.S.C. § 113 for the Secretary of Defense.
- ^ Clarke, Richard A. (2004). Against All Enemies. New York: Free Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-7432-6024-4.
- ^ a b c d George, Robert Z; Harvey Rishikof (2011). The National Security Enterprise: Navigating the Labyrinth. Georgetown University Press. p. 32.
- ^ a b Schmitz, David F. (2011). Brent Scowcroft: Internationalism and Post-Vietnam War American Foreign Policy. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 2–3.
- ^ "History of the National Security Council, 1947-1997". National Security Council. White House. August 1997. Archived from the original on 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
- ^ a b c The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 33.
- ^ "Key members of Obama-Biden national security team announced" (Press release). The Office of the President Elect. 1 December 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ "Donilon to replace Jones as national security adviser". CNN. October 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Tritten, Travis J. (March 7, 2017). "Senate panel gives nod to McMaster's 3-star status". Stars and Stripes. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017.
- ^ Tritten, Travis J. (March 15, 2017). "Senate vote allows McMaster to retain 3 stars as Trump adviser". Stars and Stripes. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017.
