National Security Advisor (United States)

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
	Incumbent; Robert O’Brien; since September 18, 2019
	Executive Office of the President
Member of	National Security Council
Reports to	President of the United States
Appointer	President of the United States
Constituting instrument	National Security Presidential Memorandum–4[1]
Formation	1953
First holder	Robert Cutler
Deputy	Deputy National Security Advisor
Website	WhiteHouse.gov/NSC

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,[2][3] 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,[4] but an appointment of a three or four-star general to the role requires Senate reconfirmation of military rank.[5]

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 (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.

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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8] 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.[6]

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),[9] 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.[10][11] 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.[10]

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.[10]

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.[10][11]

List of National Security Advisors


No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office[12]			President(s) served under
No.	Portrait	Name	Start	End	Days	President(s) served under
1		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 H. Jackson (1901–1971)[13][14][15]	September 1, 1956	January 7, 1957	128
3		Robert Cutler (1895–1974)	January 7, 1957	June 24, 1958	533
4		Gordon Gray (1909–1982)	June 24, 1958	January 13, 1961	934
5		McGeorge Bundy (1919–1996)	January 20, 1961	February 28, 1966	1865	John F. Kennedy
5		McGeorge Bundy (1919–1996)	January 20, 1961	February 28, 1966	1865	Lyndon B. Johnson
6		Walt W. Rostow (1916–2003)	April 1, 1966	January 20, 1969	1025	Lyndon B. Johnson
7		Henry Kissinger (1923–)	January 20, 1969	November 3, 1975	2478	Richard Nixon
7		Henry Kissinger (1923–)	January 20, 1969	November 3, 1975	2478	Gerald Ford
8		Brent Scowcroft (1925–2020)	November 3, 1975 (first appointment)	January 20, 1977	444	Gerald Ford
9		Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928–2017)	January 20, 1977	January 20, 1981	1461	Jimmy Carter
10		Richard V. Allen (1936–)	January 21, 1981	January 4, 1982	348	Ronald Reagan
11		William P. Clark, Jr. (1931–2013)	January 4, 1982	October 17, 1983	651
12		Robert McFarlane (1937–)	October 17, 1983	December 4, 1985	779
13		John Poindexter (1936–)	December 4, 1985	November 25, 1986	356
14		Frank Carlucci (1930–2018)	December 2, 1986	November 23, 1987	356
15		Colin Powell (1937–)	November 23, 1987	January 20, 1989	424
16		Brent Scowcroft (1925–2020)	January 20, 1989 (second appointment)	January 20, 1993	1461	George H. W. Bush
17		Anthony Lake (1939–)	January 20, 1993	March 14, 1997	1514	Bill Clinton
18		Sandy Berger (1945–2015)	March 14, 1997	January 20, 2001	1408	Bill Clinton
19		Condoleezza Rice (1954–)	January 22, 2001[16]	January 25, 2005[16]	1464	George W. Bush
20		Stephen Hadley (1947–)	January 26, 2005[16]	January 20, 2009	1455	George W. Bush
21		James Jones (1943–)[17]	January 20, 2009	October 8, 2010	626	Barack Obama
22		Tom Donilon (1955–)[18]	October 8, 2010	July 1, 2013[19]	997
23		Susan Rice (1964–)[19]	July 1, 2013[19]	January 20, 2017	1299
24		Michael Flynn (1958–)	January 20, 2017	February 13, 2017	24	Donald Trump
Acting		Keith Kellogg (1944–)	February 13, 2017	February 20, 2017	7
25		H. R. McMaster (1962–)	February 20, 2017	April 9, 2018	412
26		John R. Bolton (1948–)	April 9, 2018	September 10, 2019	520
Acting		Charles Kupperman (1950–)	September 10, 2019	September 18, 2019	8
27		Robert O’Brien (1966–)	September 18, 2019	present	332

Denotes acting

Brent Scowcroft held the job in two non-consecutive administrations: the Ford administration and the G.H.W. Bush administration. Robert Cutler also held the job twice, both times during the Eisenhower administration. 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).

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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.

"National Security Presidential Memorandum–4 of April 4, 2017" (PDF).
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.
"McMaster will need Senate confirmation to serve as national security adviser". Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
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.
George, Robert Z; Harvey Rishikof (2011). The National Security Enterprise: Navigating the Labyrinth. Georgetown University Press. p. 32.
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 March 6, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
Burke, John P. (2009). Honest Broker?: The National Security Advisor and Presidential Decision Making. Texas A&M University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781603441025.
"Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, National Security Policy, Volume XIX". Department of State, Office of the Historian. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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.
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. December 1, 2008. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
"Donilon to replace Jones as national security adviser". CNN. October 2010. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
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.

External links

WhiteHouse.gov/NSC

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[1] "National Security Presidential Memorandum–4 of April 4, 2017" (PDF).

[TNSAaS:1-2] The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 1.

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

[TNSAaS:29-4] The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 29.

[:0-5] "McMaster will need Senate confirmation to serve as national security adviser". Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2017.

[TNSAaS:17-21-6] The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 17-21.

[TNSAaS:10-14-7] The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 10-14.

[8] See 22 U.S.C. § 2651 for the Secretary of State and 10 U.S.C. § 113 for the Secretary of Defense.

[clarke18-9] Clarke, Richard A. (2004). Against All Enemies. New York: Free Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-7432-6024-4.

[george-10] George, Robert Z; Harvey Rishikof (2011). The National Security Enterprise: Navigating the Labyrinth. Georgetown University Press. p. 32.

[schmitz-11] Schmitz, David F. (2011). Brent Scowcroft: Internationalism and Post-Vietnam War American Foreign Policy. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 2–3.

[White_House_appendix-12] "History of the National Security Council, 1947-1997". National Security Council. White House. August 1997. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.

[13] Burke, John P. (2009). Honest Broker?: The National Security Advisor and Presidential Decision Making. Texas A&M University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781603441025.

[14] "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, National Security Policy, Volume XIX". Department of State, Office of the Historian. Retrieved July 12, 2020.

[15] 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.

[TNSAaS:33-16] The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 33.

[Change.gov_20081201-17] "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.

[Appointment-18] "Donilon to replace Jones as national security adviser". CNN. October 2010. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2010.

[Susan-19] 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.

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