National Security Advisor (United States)

White House advisory position

The National Security Advisor, officially known as the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, serves as the top advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues. This person serves on the National Security Council within the President's Executive Office.

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
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 National Security Advisor is appointed by the President, and does not have to be approved by the United States Senate. The current National Security Advisor is Jake Sullivan.

List of National Security Advisors change

No. Portrait Name Term of office[2] President(s) served under
Start End Days
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 Harding Jackson (1901–1971)[3][4][5] 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
Lyndon B. Johnson
6   Walt Whitman Rostow (1916–2003) April 1, 1966 January 20, 1969 1025
7   Henry Kissinger (1923–) January 20, 1969 November 3, 1975 2478 Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
8   Brent Scowcroft (1925–2020) November 3, 1975
(first appointment)
January 20, 1977 444
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
Acting   James W. Nance (1921–1999)[6] November 30, 1981 January 4, 1982 37
11   William P. Clark, Jr. (1931–2013) January 4, 1982 October 17, 1983 651
12   Robert McFarlane (1937–2022) 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 (1937–2021) 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
19   Condoleezza Rice (1954–) January 22, 2001[7] January 25, 2005[7] 1464 George W. Bush
20   Stephen Hadley (1947–) January 26, 2005[7] January 20, 2009 1455
21   James L. Jones (1943–)[8] January 20, 2009 October 8, 2010 626 Barack Obama
22   Thomas E. Donilon (1955–)[9] October 8, 2010 July 1, 2013[10] 997
23   Susan Rice (1964–)[10] July 1, 2013[10] 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 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 January 20, 2021 490
28   Jake Sullivan (1976–)[11] January 20, 2021 Incumbent 1161 Joe Biden

  Denotes acting

References change

  1. "National Security Presidential Memorandum–4 of April 4, 2017" (PDF).
  2. "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.
  3. Burke, John P. (2009). Honest Broker?: The National Security Advisor and Presidential Decision Making. Texas A&M University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781603441025.
  4. "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, National Security Policy, Volume XIX". Department of State, Office of the Historian. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. Weisman, Steven R. (1982-01-02). "REAGAN REPLACING SECURITY ADVISER, OFFICIALS REPORT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 33.
  8. "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.
  9. "Donilon to replace Jones as national security adviser". CNN. October 2010. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 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.
  11. "Biden to appoint Jake Sullivan as national security adviser". cbsnews.com.