Frances M. Fragos Townsend (born December 28, 1961, Mineola, New York) is the former Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush and TV personality. Townsend was appointed to this position by President Bush on May 28, 2004. Her resignation was announced November 19, 2007. She chaired the Homeland Security Council and reported to the President on homeland security policy and counterterrorism policy. She previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism. She is now a CNN contributor.
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Frances M. Fragos was born the daughter of a Greek American father who was a roofer and an Irish American mother who was an office manager for a construction company. Raised in Wantagh, Long Island, Townsend was the first in her family to finish high school. Her parents were determined that their only child should receive a college education, but could not afford to send her to school. Townsend saved money by accelerating her course load, waiting tables and working as a dormitory adviser. She graduated cum laude from the American University in 1982 where she received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Psychology. In 1984, she received her Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law, and in 1986, attended the Institute on International and Comparative Law in London, England. In 1994, she married lawyer John Townsend; the couple have two sons, ages 14 and 8 years old.
Townsend began her prosecutorial career in 1985, serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York. In 1988, she joined the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
In 1991, she worked in the Office of the Attorney General to assist in establishing the newly created Office of International Programs, the predecessor to the Executive Office for National Security. In December 1993, she joined the Criminal Division where she served as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Attorney General and played a critical part in establishing the Division's international training and rule of law programs.
She came to the White House from the United States Coast Guard, where she had served as Assistant Commandant for Intelligence. Prior to that, Townsend spent thirteen years at the United States Department of Justice in a variety of senior positions, her last assignment as Counsel to the Attorney General for Intelligence Policy.[1][2] In May 2007, she was appointed "National Continuity Coordinator" under the auspices of National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD) 51 [3] and assigned responsibility for coordinating the development and implementation of Federal continuity policies. In late 2007, her name was mentioned as a possible replacement for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.[4]
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| Preceded by John A. Gordon |
United States Homeland Security Advisor 2004 – 2007 |
Succeeded by Kenneth L. Wainstein |
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