Thomas E. Donilon

Thomas Donilon
Donilon in the Oval Office, 2009 or early 2010

23rd National Security Advisor
In office October 8, 2010 – June 30, 2013
President	Barack Obama
Deputy	Denis McDonough Tony Blinken
Preceded by	James Jones
Succeeded by	Susan Rice
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	(1955-05-14) May 14, 1955 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Catherine Russell
Children	2
Alma mater	Catholic University of America University of Virginia

Thomas E. "Tom" Donilon (born May 14, 1955)^[1] is an American lawyer and former government official who served as National Security Advisor in the Obama administration.^[2]^[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]

Donilon tendered his resignation as National Security Adviser on 5 June 2013 and has been succeeded by Susan Rice.^[6]

He is a former member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group.^[7]

Donilon returned to O'Melveny & Myers in May 2014 as Vice Chair of the firm and a member of the firm’s Policy Committee.^[8]

Early life and education

Donilon was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Theresa A. (née Conway) and Edward T. Donilon. His father was of Irish descent, and his maternal grandparents had immigrated from Ireland.^[9] He attended La Salle Academy,^[10] 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]^[11]

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".^[12]

Government and political work

Thomas Donilon, U.S. National Security Advisor, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. in November 2012

Donilon worked as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 1993 to 1996, and served as the Clinton administration's Secretary of State's chief of staff. 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.^[13]

Donilon was 'criticized' by National Security Advisor James L. Jones, for his lack of overseas experience, telling him that as a result: "You have no credibility with the military", according to Bob Woodward's book 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 in March 2010 during President Obama's six-hour late-night visit to the country.^[14]

Donilon was the National Security Advisor during the mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, and is one of the persons featured in the photograph Situation Room.

Pete Souza's photograph Situation Room. Donilon is seen standing, second from the left.

In 2013, in a speech to the Asia Society, Donilon said "Increasingly, U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyber-intrusions on an unprecedented scale." Donilon said China must recognize the risk such activities pose to the reputation of Chinese industry, to bilateral relations and to international trade. Beijing, he said, must also "take serious steps to investigate" allegations of hacking.^[15]

Post Obama administration

The Council on Foreign Relations announced in July 2013 that Donilon will join the organisation as a distinguished fellow.

In July 2014, he wrote an article arguing against the concept of American decline.^[16]

Personal life

Donilon is the brother of Mike Donilon, a lawyer and political consultant who is Counselor to Vice-President Joe Biden. His other brother, Terrence Donilon, is communications director for Roman Catholic Cardinal Sean O'Malley.^[17] Donilon's sister, Donna, is a nurse. He is married to Catherine M. Russell, who was Chief of Staff to Jill Biden, and in March 2013 was named the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues at the U.S. State Department. They have two children.^[18]^[19]

References

↑ http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&biw=1680&bih=959&q=Thomas+E.+Donilon+1955&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw#q=Thomas+E.+Donilon+1955&hl=en&biw=1680&bih=959&prmd=ivnso&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=bks:1&source=og&sa=N&tab=wp&fp=182daa3082043a88
↑ Donilon to Replace Jones as National Security Adviser Sanger, David E. The New York Times.
1 2 3 http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/thomas-donilon/gIQAEZrv6O_topic.html Washington Post
↑ "Obama-Biden Transition: Agency Review Teams | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team". Change.gov. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
↑ Defense Secretary Said to Be Staying On Baker, Peter. The New York Times.
↑ Scott Wilson (June 5, 2013). "National security team shuffle may signal more activist stance at White House". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
↑ "Former Steering Committee Members". bilderbergmeetings.org. Bilderberg Group. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
↑ "Tom Donilon Returns to O'Melveny From the White House | Legal Times". Nationallawjournal.com. 2014-05-15. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
↑ "Tom Donilon ancestry". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
↑ "La Salle Graduate Named National Security Advisor". LaSalle Academy. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
↑ "Duo Heading State Transition Seasoned Vets". USA Today. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
↑ "O'Melveny & Myers LLP | Professionals". O'Melveny & Myers. 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", The Huffington Post, October 8, 2010.
↑ Nakashima, Ellen (March 12, 2013). "U.S. publicly calls on China to stop commercial cyber-espionage, theft of trade secrets". The Washington Post.
↑ Donilon, Tom (2014-07-03). "We’re No. 1 (and We’re Going to Stay That Way)". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
↑ Horowitz, Jason (March 10, 2013). "The brothers Donilon: One’s boss is President Obama, the other's could be pope". Washington Post. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
↑ 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 collected news and commentary at The Washington Post
Appearances on C-SPAN
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 2010–2013	Succeeded by Susan Rice

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 Jack Lew Denis R. McDonough Mona Sutphen Nancy-Ann DeParle Rob Nabors	2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2013–15	National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan	Jim Jones Thomas E. Donilon Susan Rice Thomas E. Donilon Denis McDonough Tony Blinken Avril Haines Douglas Lute^†	2009–10 2010–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–13 2013–14 2015– 2009–13
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations	Jim Messina Alyssa Mastromonaco Anita Decker Breckenridge	2009–11 2011–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security	Ben Rhodes John O. Brennan Lisa Monaco	2009– 2009–13 2013–
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning	Mark B. Childress Kristie Canegallo	2012–14 2014–	Deputy National Security Advisor and NSC Chief of Staff	Denis McDonough Brooke Anderson	2009–10 2011–12
Senior Advisor to the President	David Axelrod David Plouffe Daniel Pfeiffer Shailagh Murray	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–	White House Communications Director	Anita Dunn Daniel Pfeiffer Jennifer Palmieri Jen Psaki	2009 2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Senior Advisor to the President Counselor to the President	Pete Rouse Brian Deese Pete Rouse John Podesta	2009–10 2015– 2011–13 2014–15	Deputy White House Communications Director	Jen Psaki Jennifer Palmieri Amy Brundage	2009–11 2011–14 2014–15
Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Director of Public Engagement Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Director, National Economic Council	Valerie Jarrett Christina Tchen Jon Carson Paulette Aniskoff Cecilia Muñoz David Agnew Jerry Abramson Lawrence Summers Gene Sperling Jeffrey Zients	2009– 2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–10 2011–14 2014–	White House Press Secretary Deputy Press Secretary Director of Special Projects Director of Speechwriting White House Counsel	Robert Gibbs Jay Carney Josh Earnest Bill Burton Josh Earnest Eric Schultz Stephanie Cutter Jon Favreau Cody Keenan Greg Craig Robert Bauer Kathryn Ruemmler W. Neil Eggleston	2009–11 2011–13 2013– 2009–11 2011–13 2014– 2010–11 2009–13 2013– 2009–10 2010–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Director, National Economic Council Deputy Director, National Economic Council Chair of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board	Diana Farrell Brian Deese Jason Furman Paul Volcker	2009–11 2011–13 2009–13 2009–11	Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Phil Schiliro Rob Nabors Miguel Rodriguez Katie Beirne Fallon	2009–11 2011–13 2013 2013–
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors	Christina Romer Austan Goolsbee Jason Furman	2009–10 2010–13 2013–	Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs	Lisa Konwinski Amy Rosenbaum	2009– 2014–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Katharine Abraham	2011–	Executive Clerk	George T. Saunders^† David Kalbaugh	2009–12 2012–
Member of the Council of Economic Advisors	Cecilia Rouse	2009–	Director, Office of Political Affairs	Patrick Gaspard David Simas	2009–11 2013–
Director, Office of Management and Budget	Peter R. Orszag Jack Lew Jeffrey Zients Sylvia Mathews Burwell Brian Deese Shaun Donovan	2009–10 2010–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014 2014–	Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Officer	Aneesh Chopra Todd Park Megan Smith Vivek Kundra Steven VanRoekel Tony Scott	2009–12 2012–14 2014– 2009–11 2011–14 2015–
Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Zients	2009–13	Director, Office of Presidential Personnel	Nancy Hogan Johnathan McBride Valerie Green	2010–14 2014–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Liebman Heather Higginbottom Brian Deese	2010 2011–13 2013–15	Director of Scheduling and Advance Director, White House Military Office	Alyssa Mastromonaco Danielle White Crutchfield George D. Mulligan, Jr. Emmett Beliveau	2009–11 2011– 2009–13 2013–
United States Trade Representative	Ron Kirk Michael Froman	2009–13 2013–	Cabinet Secretary	Chris Lu Broderick Johnson	2009–13 2013–
Director, Domestic Policy Council	Melody Barnes Cecilia Muñoz	2009–12 2012–	Deputy Cabinet Secretary	Liz Sears Smith Rachana Bhowmik Michael Robertson Gaurab Bansal	2009–11 2011–13 2013–15 2015–
Deputy Director, Domestic Policy Council	Heather Higginbottom Mark Zuckerman	2009–11 2011–	Staff Secretary	Lisa Brown Rajesh De Douglas Kramer Joani Walsh	2009–11 2011–12 2012–13 2014–
Director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships	Joshua DuBois Melissa Rogers	2009–2013 2013–	Assistant to the President for Management and Administration	Bradley Kiley Katy Kale Maju Varghese	2009–13 2013–15 2015–
Director, Office of Health Reform	Nancy-Ann DeParle	2009–11	Director, Oval Office Operations	Micaela Fernandez Brian Mosteller	2009–12 2012–
Deputy Director, Office of Health Reform	Jeanne Lambrew	2009–2011	Personal Aide to the President	Reggie Love Marvin Nicholson	2009–11 2011–
Director, Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy	Carol Browner	2009–11	Personal Secretary to the President	Katie Johnson Anita Decker Breckenridge Ferial Govashiri	2009–11 2011–14 2014–
Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change	Heather Zichal Dan Utech	2009–2013 2013–	Special Projects Coordinator and Confidential Assistant to the President	Eugene Kang	2009–11
Director, Council on Environmental Quality	Nancy Sutley Michael Boots	2009–2014 2014–	Director, Office of National AIDS Policy	Jeffrey Crowley Grant Cofax Douglas Brooks	2009–2011 2012–2014 2014–
Chief of Staff to the First Lady	Jackie Norris Susan Sher Christina Tchen	2009 2009–10 2011–	Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy	Gil Kerlikowske Michael Botticelli	2009–14 2014–
White House Social Secretary	Desirée Rogers Julianna Smoot Jeremy Bernard Deesha Dyer	2009–10 2010–11 2011–15 2015–	Director, Office of Urban Affairs	Adolfo Carrión, Jr. Racquel Russell	2009–2010 2010–
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy	John Holdren	2009–

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

Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs

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

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