Obama Cabinet and Key White House Staff
General James Jones, U.S. Marine Corp (Ret) - National Security Advisor
(Member of National Economic Council)
Former member, Board of Directors, The Boeing Company
Former member, Board of Directors, Chevron Corporation
Former energy advisor, McCain campaign
Former Chair, Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, Bush administration
Former Special Envoy for Middle East Security, Bush administration
Former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Appointed: December 1, 2008
Obama’s comments:
“I am convinced that General James Jones is uniquely suited to be a strong and skilled National Security Advisor. Generations of Joneses have served heroically on the battlefield—from the beaches of Tarawa in World War II, to Foxtrot Ridge in Vietnam. Jim’s Silver Star is a proud part of that legacy. He will bring to the job the dual experience of serving in uniform and as a diplomat. He has commanded a platoon in battle, served as Supreme Allied Commander in a time of war, and worked on behalf of peace in the Middle East.
“Jim is focused on the threats of today and the future. He understands the connection between energy and national security, and has worked on the frontlines of global instability—from Kosovo to northern Iraq to Afghanistan. He will advise me and work effectively to integrate our efforts across the government, so that we are effectively using all elements of American power to defeat unconventional threats and promote our values.”
Others’ comments:
“Jones is ‘pretty much a black box,’ says one Democratic foreign policy staffer on Capitol Hill. ‘He doesn’t have a personal agenda,’ says Fred Graefe, a Washington lobbyist who has been a close friend of Jones since they served in Vietnam 40 years ago and claims not to know even whether he is a Democrat or Republican.
“Jones, to be sure, is not a complete mystery: He is an internationalist by nature—though he is also less dovish, particularly on Iraq, than some people may understand. But it’s true that his record suggests someone more interested in management than in grand vision—and someone who, unencumbered by strong ideological leanings, can evaluate ideas dispassionately whether they come from left or right. This probably helps explain why Obama picked him. With a foreign policy team dominated by strong figures like Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, and Robert Gates, Obama does not need a national security adviser with big ideas; he needs someone smooth as a diplomat and tough as a Marine. Which just happens to describe Jim Jones.
“Jones could be an ideal antidote to the natural tensions involved in [Obama’s national security] lineup. Most importantly, he has the diplomatic skills to navigate the Obama administration’s egos and relationships.”
—The New Republic
“As a young officer in the early 1980s, [Jones] was the Marine Corps’ liaison to the U.S. Senate. There, he became fast friends with a fellow Vietnam vet, Navy Lt. Cmdr. John McCain. The two are still close. He also struck up a friendship with a rising young Republican senator, William Cohen. When Cohen became Clinton's defense secretary in 1997, he picked Jones as his military assistant. The MA is the defense secretary’s gatekeeper—a job needing high diplomatic skills to handle the egos jostling for the boss’s time. People who have worked with Jones say he is an impressive negotiator who gets what he wants without resorting to confrontation. He ‘has a very calm demeanor,’ Cohen told Newsweek. ‘He has a methodical approach to problems—he’s able to view issues at both the strategic and tactical level.’ Cohen rewarded his service by nominating him as Marine Corps commandant—from which Jones moved on up to be SACEUR[/EUCOM commander].
“Jones met the president-elect through Obama adviser Tom Daschle. Obama was impressed with Jones’ tough critique of the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq War, and the two men share the view that energy is a top national-security concern. (It doesn’t hurt that Jones, like [Obama], is a basketball nut. He played for Georgetown and still shoots hoops weekly.)”
—Newsweek
“Retired Gen. James Jones, the former Marine commander who advised Republican John McCain on energy security issues during his presidential campaign, (at one point was on)…President-elect Barack Obama’s list to be energy secretary.
“But some renewable energy and green groups (warned) that Jones’ ties to oil giant Chevron Corp. could spoil any such appointment.
“The retired general (sat) on Chevron’s board of directors. [Jones resigned from Chevron’s board upon his appointment as National Security Advisor.] The greens (worried) that as energy secretary, he could wield power in much the same way that Vice President Dick Cheney, who led Halliburton Co., (did while) in the White House.
“‘I would hope, when Obama is picking people to head up these very important agencies, that he is conscientious about conflicts of interest,” said Greenpeace legislative aide Kate Smolski. ‘We clearly need to look at how we can transition America to clean energy and be less constrained by fossil fuels.’”
—Politico
“Jones’ political affiliation is not clear, though he has never been called a Democrat. His lack of public complaint during the planning for the Iraq war drew criticism despite later reports that he had argued with Donald Rumsfeld and then Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace.”
—TIME
Approved: Appointment did not require Senate approval.
Appointment Impact:
“[In addition to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel,] the other principal gatekeeper—for international issues—will be James Jones, the incoming White House national security adviser and a retired Marine general who is charged with coordinating Obama’s options on foreign policy and national security issues. The former supreme allied commander in Europe, he is popular with the military and is expected to create a hierarchical, orderly system for decision making, much as retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft did in holding the same post for President George H. W. Bush. But Jones has little direct experience with White House intrigue, and this void gave him pause as he considered taking the post in the first place. Obama promised him lots of authority, but how he deals with equally strong-minded colleagues such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains to be seen.”
—US News & World Report
“Traditionally one of the president’s closest and most trusted advisers, the NSA is tasked with brokering policy disputes between the vast foreign and defense bureaucracies and making sure the commander in chief's views prevail.”
—Newsweek
“It will be Jones’ job to serve as a foreign-policy broker for the President, funneling to Obama his assessment of how to best reconcile the conflicting views of the State Department, Pentagon, and other elements of the U.S. government’s international actors.”
—TIME
“The position [of National Security Adviser] was created during the Eisenhower administration to help the president keep up with the fast-expanding size of the U.S. government and its hundreds of international and security tasks spread across dozens of agencies. The national security adviser’s role is to gather opinions from across the government and synthesize them into a menu of options for the president, favoring none and testing the assumptions of all. Only after the president has made an informed decision does the adviser whip others into line to execute it.
“Recent history suggests that success in the job depends on two things: diplomatic skill and a willingness to think skeptically about all ideas—including the president’s.”
—The New Republic
“Some advice for our friends in the media, don’t focus on Clinton, focus on Jim Jones, someone personally more close with John McCain than Obama. And with an office in the West Wing, it will be Jones who has the day-to-day ear of Obama, not Clinton. In fact, of the three big national security posts, it’s possible a President McCain could have picked Jones and Gates as well. This is a throwback to the Bush years, not Bush 43, but Bush 41. Jones and Gates, in particular, seem to be from the Brent Scowcroft school of foreign policy.”
—MSNBC
“In selecting General Jones, Mr. Obama has also picked a former supreme allied commander in Europe, a man who, at NATO, had to cajole, prod and bully recalcitrant nations. At NATO, he led the American operation in Kosovo. He served as the Bush administration’s envoy to set up an Israeli-Palestinian security model in the West Bank city of Jenin and has traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq on fact-finding missions for the Pentagon.
“He has said the war in Iraq has caused the nation to ‘take its eye off the ball’ in Afghanistan and warned that the consequences of a failure there were just as serious as in Iraq.
“‘Jones brings the same balance that Scowcroft did to the job,’ said David Rothkopf, author of Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power. ‘Not only does he know how to work the Washington system,’ Mr. Rothkopf said, but ‘he’s deeply steeped in Afghanistan, which is going to be a central front for us.’
“But what is unclear, Mr. Rothkopf said, is how quickly General Jones can develop a close relationship with Mr. Obama and how successfully he, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Gates can define their roles on issues like Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia and terrorism.
“Because of his physical proximity—the national security adviser works in the West Wing of the White House and consults with the president several times a day—General Jones will automatically serve as a counter to the State Department. But a State Department that is at war with the White House is the last thing that General Jones wants, his friends and associates say.
“‘He’s not the sort of person who is going to be chasing down whether Hillary went through him or not,’ said one of General Jones’s friends, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ‘He doesn’t have that kind of an ego.’
“General Jones, friends say, gets along well with Mrs. Clinton and has even hired some of her former staff members to work for him on the energy task force.
“General Jones approaches things in a ‘get it done’ fashion, associates say, with a propensity to think tactically. Sometimes, that can rub people the wrong way. When he began working on the security proposal for Jenin, some Israeli military officials grumbled that he thought he knew Israel’s security requirements better than they did. Israelis also worried that he would seek to impose an international force on the ground to maintain security, an idea favored by many in the international community but that still leaves some Israeli hawks queasy.
“But things have changed in Jenin, much of it thanks to General Jones, both Israeli and Palestinian officials say. The city that once sent waves of suicide bombers into Israel now has Palestinian security officials who have restored order.
“‘He was able to force all of the different parts of the U.S. government to work together to make Jenin a model of economic hope, despite a very dreary past, and so far, so good,’ said David Makovsky, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ‘He brought clarity to a messy situation.’”
—The New York Times
“In picking Jones, Obama gets a military man who wasn’t a cheerleader for the Iraq war.
“In fact, as Bob Woodward first reported in his book State of Denial, as far back as 2005 Jones privately warned his good friend and soon-to-be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace: ‘You’re going to face a debacle and be part of the debacle in Iraq.’
“And he added this sage advice, ‘You should not be the parrot on the secretary’s shoulder.’
“Woodward reported Jones was ‘so worried about Iraq and the way Rumsfeld ran things that he wondered if he himself should not resign in protest.’
“Jones didn’t deny that when I asked him about it later.
“‘We all have bad days,” he [said] in 2006. ‘I remember my first thought of resignation was in Vietnam, when I said, Why am I doing this? You have bad days.’
“Jones tells CNN he’s eager to serve again. He denies he’s at odds with the President-elect on issues such as Obama’s pledge to withdraw U.S. combat forces in 16 months even though just over a year ago Jones seemed clearly uncomfortable with an Obama-style Iraq withdrawal plan.
“Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee September 6, 2007, Jones was asked about it by Obama’s future Republican rival John McCain.
“‘Do you believe that if we just set a time frame for withdrawal that that would be in the United States’ interest in the region?,’ McCain asked.
“‘I think deadlines can work against us. And I think a deadline of this magnitude would be against our national interest,’ Jones replied.
“But today Jones [says] a lot has changed since then. The Iraq security forces have improved and the Iraqi parliament approved the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that calls for all U.S. troops top leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
“‘The new SOFA agreements give us a pathway to work in. So I don’t know of anything that would put us at odds. I think quite the contrary,’ he said.
“During that testimony [in 2007], Jones also recommended a pull back of U.S. forces that closely mirrors the plan adopted by the Iraq parliament.
“‘The force footprint should be adjusted, in our view, to represent an expeditionary capability and to combat the permanent force image of today’s presence. This will make an ultimate departure, an eventual departure, much easier,’ he testified.
“And there’s one more issue on which Jones and his new boss agree: gays in the military.
“Jones, having served with and for Marines who he later learned were gay, said in an interview last year with CNN that his views have softened over the years:
“‘People can serve and serve honorably regardless of where they come from,’ he said.”
—AndersonCooper360
“Gates and Jones are seasoned pragmatists who are formidable figures in global security circles, whose presence will do much to begin the task of rebuilding America's credibility and moral standing in international affairs. Gates has earned bipartisan confidence and global respect for his handling of post-Rumsfeld Iraq, and can be counted on to balance Obama’s pledge of withdrawing U.S. troops in 16 months with the need to guard against politically expedient moves that could cause greater instability in Iraq or the region. Jones, a former U.S. Marine Corps commandant and NATO supreme allied commander, brings recent experience in both the Iraq and Israel-Palestinian issues that make him a particularly good choice for his position right now. As a Bush administration special envoy to the Middle East, he authored a report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that reportedly was harsh on the Israeli government and criticized U.S. agencies for botching coordination of their assistance to Palestinian security forces.”
—TIME
“Jones comes to the White House by an extraordinary route—via the Republican-dominated U.S. Chamber of Commerce—where he was promoting an energy policy opposed by congressional Democrats and not fully embraced by Obama. And Jones has been a board director for Chevron.
“At the White House, Jones primary job will be to coordinate defense and foreign policy among the Pentagon, State Department, myriad intelligence agencies and others. With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a long list of other international hot spots, that’s likely to take up the bulk of his time.
“Still, Obama noted Jones’ energy expertise in announcing his appointment Monday, prompting renewed scrutiny of his positions.
“As president of the Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, Jones signed on to a pre-Election Day transition plan for the new administration that advocated offshore oil drilling, clean coal and nuclear energy development – an anathema to some environmentalists.
“Rather than specific energy policy, the link between Jones and Obama revolves largely around their shared desire to reduce or eliminate the U.S. dependence on foreign oil, which would also improve the nation’s national security.
“A critical time in the Jones-Obama relationship could come in debate over the president-elect’s proposed cap-and-trade program that would reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
“Under Jones’ watch, the Chambers’ energy institute recently released an energy blueprint that opposed using the Clean Air Act to regulate global warming emissions, a key detail that the Obama administration has said it will move forward on.
“That has environmental groups already nervous. Many of them are still smarting from the tough battle against Jones and the Chamber over the Senate’s climate change bill earlier this year, which was scuttled in the Senate.
“Greenpeace environmentalists say they are also concerned that Jones may try to back pedal Obama’s efforts to overturn environmentally unfriendly executive orders issued by President George W. Bush.
“The greens are watching a number of executive orders, including one designed to expedite energy projects while minimizing the environmental and regulatory obstacles.
“Greens are also concerned Jones may help convince Obama to continue lifting the presidential moratorium on offshore drilling—particularly given his relationship with Chevron.”
—Politico
|