Thomas E. Donilon

Tom Donilon

Donilon in the Oval Office. (2010)
23rd National Security Advisor
Incumbent
Assumed office October 8, 2010
President	Barack Obama
Deputy	Denis McDonough
Preceded by	James Jones
Deputy National Security Advisor
In office January 20, 2009 – October 8, 2010
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	James Jeffrey
Succeeded by	Denis McDonough
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
In office April 1, 1993 – November 7, 1996
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Margaret Tutwiler
Succeeded by	James Rubin
Personal details
Born	May 14, 1955 (1955-05-14) (age 56) Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Spouse(s)	Catherine Russell
Children	2
Alma mater	Catholic University of America University of Virginia
Profession	Lawyer

Thomas E. "Tom" Donilon (born May 14, 1955)^[1] is the National Security Advisor in the Obama Administration,^[2] and has had a career as a U.S. political advisor, government official and lawyer.^[3] Previously, he served together with diplomat Wendy Sherman as Agency Review Team Lead for the State Department in the Obama transition,^[4] and as Deputy to National Security Advisor James Jones early in the Obama administration. Donilon replaced Jones as National Security Advisor on October 8, 2010.^[5]

1 Early life and education
2 Private sector
3 Government and political work
4 Personal life
5 References
6 External links

Early life and education

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Donilon attended La Salle Academy, earned a B.A. at The Catholic University of America in 1977 and a J.D. at the University of Virginia in 1985. He served on the Editorial Board of the Virginia Law Review.

Private sector

He worked as Executive Vice President for Law and Policy at Fannie Mae, the federally-chartered mortgage finance company, as a registered lobbyist from 1999 through 2005.^[3] This line on his resume raised eyebrows when his appointment to the Obama transition team was announced, given that the company had been seized by federal regulators.^[6]

Before his appointment to the Obama Administration, Donilon was a partner in the Washington office of the law firm O'Melveny & Myers, where he advised companies and their boards on a range of "sensitive governance, policy, legal and regulatory matters." ^[7]

Government and political work

Donilon worked as assistant secretary of state for public affairs and has served as the Clinton administration's Secretary of State chief of staff. Although he has no military experience and worked as a lobbyist, Donilon was "intimately involved in many major foreign policy issues, including negotiating the Bosnian peace agreement and the expansion of NATO". ^[3] Donilon figures prominently during formulation of strategy for Afghanistan and associated discussions in Bob Woodward's 2010 book, "Obama's Wars."^[8]

Donilon was 'criticsed' by General Jones who once disparaged Donilon, for his lack of overseas experience, telling him that as a result: "You have no credibility with the military," according to Bob Woodward's "Obama's Wars." Jones said that Donilon was not good in his dealings with his staff at the National Security Council, displaying "too little feel for the people who work day and night....". Donilon did visit Afghanistan March 2010 during President Obama's six-hour late-night visit to the country.^[9]

Personal life

Donilon is the brother of Mike Donilon, a lawyer and political consultant who has been chosen to serve as Counselor to Vice-President Joe Biden. He is married to Catherine M. Russell, who has been named Chief of Staff to Jill Biden, and they have two children.^[10]^[11]

References

^ [1]
^ Donilon to Replace Jones as National Security Adviser Sanger, David E. The New York Times.
^ ^a ^b ^c http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Thomas_Donilon
^ "Obama-Biden Transition: Agency Review Teams | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team". Change.gov. http://www.change.gov/learn/obama_biden_transition_agency_review_teams. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
^ Defense Secretary Said to Be Staying On Baker, Peter. The New York Times.
^ Duo Heading State Transition Seasoned Vets ABC News. November 12, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
^ "O'Melveny & Myers LLP | Professionals". Omm.com. http://www.omm.com/thomasdonilon/. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
^ Bob Woodward book details Obama battles with advisers over exit plan for Afghan war Washington Post. September 22, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
^ Tom Donilon Would Be A 'Disaster' As National Security Adviser, Robert Gates Reportedly Said
^ http://politicsblog.projo.com/2008/11/obama-biden-rel.html Obama, Biden relying on the Donilons of Providence] Perry, Jack. Providence Journal ProJo Politics Blog. November 26, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
^ Biden Beefs Up Staff Rucker, Philip. November 26, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2008.

External links

National Security Council
Thomas E. Donilon at WhoRunsGov at The Washington Post
Appearances on C-SPAN
Thomas E. Donilon on Charlie Rose
Works by or about Thomas E. Donilon in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
Thomas E. Donilon collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Political offices
Preceded by Margaret Tutwiler	Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs 1993–1996	Succeeded by James Rubin
Preceded by James Jeffrey	Deputy National Security Advisor 2009–2010	Succeeded by Denis McDonough
Preceded by James Jones	National Security Advisor 2010–present	Incumbent

Barack Obama's Executive Office of the President

Office	Name	Term	Office	Name	Term
White House Chief of Staff White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy	Rahm Emanuel Pete Rouse William M. Daley Mona Sutphen Nancy-Ann DeParle	2009–2010 2010-2011 2011- 2009-2011 2011-	National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor	Jim Jones Tom Donilon Thomas E. Donilon Denis McDonough	2009–2010 2010- 2009–2010 2010-
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Senior Advisor to the President Deputy Senior Advisor to the President Counselor to the President	Jim Messina Alyssa Mastromonaco David Axelrod David Plouffe Stephanie Cutter Pete Rouse	2009–2011 2011- 2009–2011 2011- 2011- 2009-	Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications	Douglas Lute^† Ben Rhodes	2009– 2009–
Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement	Valerie Jarrett	2009–	Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security	John O. Brennan	2009–
Director of Public Engagement	Christina Tchen Jon Carson	2009–2011 2011--	Deputy National Security Advisor and NSC Chief of Staff	Denis McDonough Brooke Anderson	2009-2010 2011-
Director of Intergovernmental Affairs	Cecilia Muñoz	2009–	White House Communications Director	Daniel Pfeiffer	2009-
Director, National Economic Council	Lawrence Summers Gene Sperling	2009–2010 2011-	Deputy White House Communications Director White House Press Secretary	Jennifer Psaki Robert Gibbs Jay Carney	2009– 2009–2011 2011-
Deputy Director, National Economic Council	Diana Farrell	2009–	Deputy Press Secretary	Bill Burton	2009–
Deputy Director, National Economic Council Deputy Director, National Economic Council	Jason Furman Brian Deese	2009– 2011-	Director of Special Projects	Stephanie Cutter	2010-2011
Chair of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board	Paul Volcker	2009–	Director of Speechwriting	Jon Favreau	2009–
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors	Christina Romer Austan Goolsbee	2009–2010 2010-	White House Counsel Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Robert Bauer Kathryn Ruemmler Phil Schiliro Rob Nabors	2009–2011 2011- 2009–2011 2011-
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Katharine Abraham	2011-	Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Lisa Konwinski	2009–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Cecilia Rouse	2009–	Executive Clerk	George T. Saunders^†	2009–
Director, Office of Management and Budget	Peter Orszag Jacob Lew	2009–2010 2010–	Director, Office of Political Affairs Chief Technology Officer	Patrick Gaspard Aneesh Chopra	2009–2011 2009–
Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Zients	2009–	Chief Information Officer Director, Office of Presidential Personnel	Steven VanRoekel Nancy Hogan	2011– 2010–
Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Liebman Heather Higginbottom*	2010–2010 2011-	Director of Scheduling and Advance Director, White House Military Office	Alyssa Mastromonaco Danielle Crutchfield George D. Mulligan, Jr.	2009–2011 2011- 2009–
United States Trade Representative	Ron Kirk	2009–	Cabinet Secretary	Chris Lu	2009–
Director, Domestic Policy Council	Melody Barnes	2009–	Deputy Cabinet Secretary	Liz Sears Smith	2009–
Deputy Director, Domestic Policy Council	Heather Higginbottom Mark Zuckerman	2009–2011 2011-	Staff Secretary	Lisa Brown	2009–
Director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships	Joshua DuBois	2009–	Director, Office of Management and Administration	Bradley Kiley	2009–
Director, Office of Health Reform	Nancy DeParle	2009–2011	Director, Oval Office Operations	Micaela Fernandez	2009–
Deputy Director, Office of Health Reform	Jeanne Lambrew	2009–	Personal Aide to the President	Reggie Love	2009–
Director, Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy	Carol Browner	2009–2011	Personal Secretary to the President	Katie Johnson Anita Decker	2009–2011 2011-
Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change	Heather Zichal	2009–	Special Projects Coordinator and Confidential Assistant to the President	Eugene Kang	2009–
Director, Council on Environmental Quality Director, Office of National AIDS Policy	Nancy Sutley Jeffrey Crowley	2009– 2009–	Chief of Staff to the First Lady	Jackie Norris Susan Sher Christina Tchen	2009 2009–2010 2011-
Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy	Gil Kerlikowske	2009–	White House Social Secretary	Desirée Rogers Julianna Smoot Jeremy Bernard	2009–2010 2010–2011 2011–
Director, Office of Urban Affairs Policy	Adolfo Carrión, Jr.	2009–	Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy	John Holdren	2009–

^*Senate-confirmation pending. ^†Remained from previous administration (s).

National Security Advisors of the United States

Cutler • Anderson • Jackson • Cutler • Gray • Bundy • Rostow • Kissinger • Scowcroft • Brzezinski • Allen • Clark • McFarlane • Poindexter • Carlucci • Powell • Scowcroft • Lake • Berger • Rice • Hadley • Jones • Donilon

Persondata
Name	Donilon, Thomas E.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 14, 1955
Place of birth	Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Date of death
Place of death