Compassion in the North Korean Event to summit a Mountain?
1. Does the American at-large that belongs to the N.R.A. have any responsibility to the comparison?
2. Did the events of the N.R.A. effect the North Korean leadership?
3. How would the N.R.A. daily happenings effect the North Korean denuclearization?
4. By example: "Do the spree-shootings in the United States effect international decisions (i.e. N. Korea)?
5. How is this Presidency lead when 'Talks' have been made more than evident?
6. Why did the President of 2018 in the United States not immediately board Air Force One for N. Korea?
7. By the approximate 50 Year term with North Korea how has the television broadcasting effected "talks"?
8. Did this Presidency of 2018 fall to task by jerking the Americans attention from the Middle East to quickly?
9. Did the Election Campaign producing this Presidency of 2018 effect North Korea?
10. Currently does the President effect poorly the North Korean "Talks" by firing and threatening to fire the F.B.I. leadership?
a. James Comey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Comey
b. Robert Mueller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mueller
11. Does this Presidency of 2018 effect the "Talks" with North Korea by firing our Generals?
a. General Michael Flynn
b. General H.R. McMaster
c. General John F. Kelly
12. Was the event horizon United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North?
13. Probability factor?
a. Can this Presidency 2018 fire the Agency in whole?
b. Can this Presidency 2018 fire the Armed Forces in whole?
c. Does that in-turn fire every Sheriff, Police and National Guard department, Stations and National Guardsmen?
Sincerely yours,
Karen Placek
4/29/1965
Michael Flynn
| Michael Flynn | |
|---|---|
Michael Flynn in 2012
|
|
| 25th United States National Security Advisor | |
| In office January 20, 2017 – February 13, 2017 |
|
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | K. T. McFarland |
| Preceded by | Susan Rice |
| Succeeded by | H. R. McMaster |
| Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency | |
| In office July 24, 2012 – August 7, 2014 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Ronald Burgess |
| Succeeded by | David Shedd (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Thomas Flynn December 1958 (age 59) Fort Meade, Maryland, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Lori Andrade |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Official website |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service/branch |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1981–2014 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Unit | |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
Flynn's military career included a key role in shaping U.S. counterterrorism strategy and dismantling insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he was given numerous combat arms, conventional, and special operations senior intelligence assignments.[1][2][3] He was appointed by President Barack Obama as the eighteenth director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, serving from July 2012 until his forced retirement from the military in August 2014.[4][5][6] The New York Times reported on May 18, 2018 that a longtime FBI/CIA informant had met Flynn at an intelligence seminar in Britain six months earlier and became alarmed by Flynn's closeness to a Russian woman there; this concern prompted another individual to alert American authorities that Flynn may have been compromised by Russian intelligence.[7]
After leaving the military, he established Flynn Intel Group, which has provided intelligence services for businesses and governments, including ones in Turkey.[8][9]
Flynn briefly served as the National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump, from January 20 to February 13, 2017.[10] He resigned after information surfaced that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and content of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.[11][12] Flynn's tenure of just 24 days was the shortest in the office's history.[13][14]
On April 27, 2017, the Pentagon inspector general announced an investigation into whether Flynn had accepted money from foreign governments without the required approval.[15] Flynn initially refused to hand over subpoenaed documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee, pleading the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, but a compromise with the committee was worked out.[16][17] On December 1, 2017, Flynn appeared in federal court to formalize a deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to plead guilty to a single felony count of "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI.[18] He confirmed his intention to cooperate with the Special Counsel's investigation.
Contents
Early life
Michael Thomas Flynn was born and raised in Middletown, Rhode Island,[2] as one of nine children[19] to Helen Frances (Andrews), who worked in real estate, and Charles Francis Flynn, a small-town banker.[20][21][22][23] Both of his parents are of Irish descent.[24]Michael Flynn graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science degree in management science in 1981 and was a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He also earned a Master of Business Administration in Telecommunications from Golden Gate University, a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.[6]
Flynn is a graduate of the Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course, Ranger School, Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Army Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and Naval War College.[6]
Military career
U.S. Army
General Stanley McChrystal and Flynn in Afghanistan, 2010
Flynn served as the assistant chief of staff, G2, XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from June 2001 and the director of intelligence at the Joint Task Force 180 in Afghanistan until July 2002. He commanded the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade from June 2002 to June 2004[6] and was the director of intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command from July 2004 to June 2007, with service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom). He served as the director of intelligence of the United States Central Command from June 2007 to July 2008, as the director of intelligence of the Joint Staff from July 2008 to June 2009, then the director of intelligence of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from June 2009 to October 2010.[6][26]
Defense Intelligence Agency
Flynn speaks during the change of directorship for the Defense
Intelligence Agency on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.
Flynn with Martin Dempsey and Ashton Carter, June 11, 2013
In October 2012, Flynn announced plans to release his paper "VISION2020: Accelerating Change Through Integration", a look at changes he believes are necessary for the DIA in the future.[30][31]
Retirement from the military
On April 30, 2014, Flynn announced his retirement effective later that year, about a year earlier than he had been scheduled to leave his position. He was reportedly effectively forced out of the DIA after clashing with superiors over his allegedly chaotic management style and vision for the agency.[32][33][34][35] In a private e-mail that was leaked online, Colin Powell said that he had heard in the DIA (apparently from later DIA director Vincent R. Stewart) that Flynn was fired because he was "abusive with staff, didn't listen, worked against policy, bad management, etc."[34] According to The New York Times, Flynn exhibited a loose relationship with facts, leading his subordinates to refer to Flynn's repeated dubious assertions as "Flynn facts".[36]According to what Flynn had stated in one final interview as DIA director, he felt like a lone voice in thinking that the United States was less safe from the threat of Islamic terrorism in 2014 than it was prior to the 9/11 attacks; he went on to believe that he was pressed into retirement for questioning the Obama administration's public narrative that Al Qaeda was close to defeat.[37] Journalist Seymour Hersh wrote that "Flynn confirmed [to Hersh] that his agency had sent a constant stream of classified warnings ... about the dire consequences of toppling [Syrian President] Assad." Flynn recounted that his agency was producing intelligence reports indicating that radical Islamists were the main force in the Syrian insurgency and "that Turkey was looking the other way when it came to the growth of the Islamic State inside Syria". According to Flynn, these reports "got enormous pushback from the Obama administration," who he felt "did not want to hear the truth". According to former DIA official W. Patrick Lang: "Flynn incurred the wrath of the White House by insisting on telling the truth about Syria ... they shoved him out. He wouldn't shut up."[38] In an interview with Al Jazeera, Flynn criticized the Obama administration for its delay in supporting the opposition in Syria, thereby allowing for the growth of Al-Nusra and other extremist forces: "when you don't get in and help somebody, they're gonna find other means to achieve their goals" and that "we should have done more earlier on in this effort, you know, than we did."[39]
Flynn retired from the U.S. Army with 33 years of service on August 7, 2014.[40]
Post-retirement
Consulting firm
Flynn, with his son Michael G. Flynn, ran the Flynn Intel Group Inc, which provided intelligence services for businesses and governments before closing in 2016.[41][8] The company was founded in the fall of 2014, and restarted in June 2015 as a Delaware company.[41]Flynn was paid over $65,000 by companies connected to Russia in 2015, including $11,250 from both Volga-Dnepr Airlines and the U.S. subsidiary of Kaspersky Lab.[41][42] Other clients included Palo Alto Networks, Francisco Partners, Brainwave Science and Adobe Systems.[41]
While working as a consultant Flynn served on the board of several organizations, including GreenZone Systems, Patriot Capital, Brainwave, Drone Aviation and OSY Technologies.[43][41][44] Subsidiaries of the Flynn Intel Group included FIG Cyber Inc, headed by Timothy Newberry, and FIG Aviation.[43][45]
Foreign agent
In July 2016, Flynn spoke at a meeting of ACT! for America at a point when the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was still underway. He spoke favorably of the coup participants, saying that Erdoğan had been moving Turkey away from secularism and towards Islamism, and that participants in the coup wanted Turkey to be and to be seen as a secular nation—a goal "worth clapping for."[46]By the end of September 2016, Flynn's consulting company was hired by Inovo BV, a company owned by Kamil Ekim Alptekin, the Chair of the Turkish-American Business Council, which is an arm of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK).[47][48][49][50][51]
On November 8 (election day in the United States), an op-ed written by Flynn was published by The Hill, calling for U.S. backing for Erdoğan's government and criticizing the regime's opponent, Fethullah Gülen, alleging that Gülen headed a "vast global network" that fitted "the description of a dangerous sleeper terror network".[52][53][54] At the time, Flynn did not disclose that his consulting firm had received funds from a company with ties to the Turkish government.[55] After Flynn's ties had been disclosed by The Daily Caller, Politico, and others, the editor of The Hill added a note to Flynn's op-ed, stating that Flynn had failed to disclose that he had been engaged at the time in "consulting work that might have aided the government of Turkey," that his firm had received payments from a company with close ties to the Turkish government, or that the company had reviewed the draft of the op-ed before it was submitted to The Hill.[52]
On March 8, 2017, Flynn registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth of lobbying work before election day.[56] This work was done on behalf of a Dutch-based company that may have been working for the Turkish government.[56]
On March 24, 2017, former Director of the CIA James Woolsey said that in September 2016 Flynn, while working for the Trump presidential campaign, had attended a meeting in a New York hotel with Turkish officials including foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and energy minister Berat Albayrak, son-in-law of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and had discussed abducting Fethullah Gülen and sending him to Turkey, bypassing the U.S. extradition legal process.[57]
Flynn sat in on classified national security briefings with then-candidate Trump at the same time that Flynn was working for foreign clients, which raises ethical concerns and conflicts of interest.[58][59] Flynn was paid at least $5,000 to serve as a consultant to a U.S.-Russian project to build 40 nuclear reactors across the Middle East, which Flynn's failure to disclose was flagged by Representatives Elijah Cummings and Eliot Engel as a possible violation of federal law.[60][61]
Attendance at RT gala dinner
On December 10, 2015, Flynn attended a gala dinner in Moscow in honor of RT (formerly "Russia Today"), a Russian government-owned English-language media outlet, on which he made semi-regular appearances as an analyst after he retired from U.S. government service.[62]Flynn sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the dinner, leading journalist Michael Crowley of Politico to report that "at a moment of semi-hostility between the U.S. and Russia, the presence of such an important figure at Putin's table startled" U.S. officials.[63][64][42] As part of the festivities, Flynn gave a talk on world affairs for which he was paid at least $45,000.[62] Flynn defended the RT payment in an interview with Michael Isikoff.[64]
On February 1, 2017, the ranking Democratic members on six House committees sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, requesting a Department of Defense investigation into Flynn's connection to RT.[65] The legislators expressed concern that Flynn had violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution by accepting money from RT.[65]
A 2017 report by the United States Intelligence Community characterized RT as "The Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet" and said that RT America is set up as an autonomous nonprofit organization "to avoid the Foreign Agents Registration Act".[66][67]
As a retired military intelligence officer, Flynn was required to obtain prior permission from the Defense Department and the State Department before receiving any money from foreign governments. Flynn apparently did not seek that approval before the RT speech, and he did not report the payment when he applied for renewal of his security clearance two months later.[62] Glenn A. Fine, the acting Defense Department Inspector General, has confirmed he is investigating Flynn.[42]
2016 U.S. presidential election
Flynn at a campaign rally for then-Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump, in October 2016
In July 2016, it was reported he was being considered as Trump's running mate; Flynn later confirmed that he had submitted vetting documents to the campaign and, although a registered Democrat, was willing to accept the Republican vice-presidential nomination if chosen.[70][71] However, Trump instead selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
As one of the keynote speakers during the first night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, Flynn gave what the Los Angeles Times described as a "fiery" speech, in which he stated: "We are tired of Obama's empty speeches and his misguided rhetoric. This, this has caused the world to have no respect for America's word, nor does it fear our might";[72] he accused Obama of choosing to conceal the actions of Osama bin Laden and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[73] Flynn went on to criticize political correctness and joined the crowd in a chant of "U-S-A! U-S-A!". During the chants he told those in the audience, "Get fired up! This is about our country."[72][74]
During the speech, Flynn launched a blistering attack on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He led the crowd in chants of "Lock her up!"; during one of those chants, he encouraged the crowd to keep it up, saying, "Damn right! Exactly right! There is nothing wrong with that!"[37] He called for Clinton to withdraw from the race, saying that "if I did a tenth of what she did, I'd be in jail today."[75][76] He repeated in subsequent interviews that she should be "locked up".[68] While campaigning for Trump, Flynn also referred to Clinton as the "enemy camp".[75] Six days after the speech, Flynn stirred up a controversy by retweeting anti-Semitic remarks, which he later apologized for and claimed were unintentional.[77] During the election campaign, Flynn used Twitter to post links to negative stories about Clinton, like the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.[78]
Flynn was once opposed to waterboarding and other extreme interrogation techniques that have now been banned; however, according to an August 2016 Washington Post article, he said at one point, in the context of Trump's apparent openness to reinstating such techniques, that "he would be reluctant to take options off the table."[75] In May 2016, Flynn was asked by an Al Jazeera reporter if he would support Trump's stated plan to "take out [the] families"[79][80] of people suspected of being involved in terrorism. In response, Flynn stated, "I would have to see the circumstances of that situation."[75] In an interview with Al Jazeera, Flynn criticized the U.S. reliance on drones as a "failed strategy", stating that "what we have is this continued investment in conflict. The more weapons we give, the more bombs we drop, that just ... fuels the conflict."[81][39]
National Security Advisor
Flynn, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Votel and Gen. Raymond A. Thomas at MacDill Air Force Base, February 6, 2017.
On November 18, 2016, Flynn accepted Trump's offer for the position of National Security Advisor.[84] Prior to his appointment, media sources including the Washington Post and Associated Press had already criticized his close relations with Russia,[85][86][63][64] and his promotion of anti-Clinton conspiracy theories and fake news during the 2016 presidential campaign.[78][87]
In December 2016, Flynn met with Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPA), at Trump Tower in New York.[88] The meeting attracted attention because the FPA was founded by ex-Nazis in the 1950s, and because Strache had recently signed a cooperation agreement with Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party. The Trump campaign refused to comment on the meeting.[88]
On December 29, 2016, Flynn spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, the same day the Obama administration announced retaliatory measures in response to the interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign by the Russian government. The phone conversation was reportedly viewed by Obama advisers who had been briefed on its content by the F.B.I. with suspicion as possibly a secret deal between the incoming team and Moscow, which could have violated the dormant Logan Act that bars unauthorized U.S. citizens from negotiating with foreign powers in disputes with the United States.[89][90][91] The day after reporting by David Ignatius, Trump's incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer said the conversation had occurred on December 28 and thus couldn't have touched on the retaliation measures or Russia's response; Spicer later had to correct himself on the date of the conversation.[92]
On January 4, 2017, Flynn informed Don McGahn, soon to become the White House Counsel, that he was under investigation over his work for Turkey.[93] Ten days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, Flynn told then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice not to proceed with a planned invasion of Raqqa using Kurdish People's Protection Units.[94] Flynn's decision would delay the campaign, which had taken seven months to plan, several more months, but was consistent with Turkish objections to working with Kurdish troops.[95]
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, in May 8 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, said the FBI interviewed Flynn, on January 24, 2017. Based on the results of that interview, she made an "urgent" request to meet with McGahn.[96] She met with him on January 26 and again on January 27.[97] She informed McGahn that Flynn was "compromised" and possibly open to blackmail by the Russians. Yates told McGahn that Flynn had misled Pence and other administration officials about the nature of his conversation with the Russian ambassador.[98][85][99] She added that Flynn's "underlying conduct", which she could not describe due to classification, "was problematic in and of itself," saying "(i)t was a whole lot more than one White House official lying to another."[97][96] Former United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called the possibility of Flynn being blackmailed "kind of a stretch," while acknowledging that his false statement was "a problem ... that I would tell the president about."[100]
On January 22, 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn was under investigation by U.S. counterintelligence agents for his communications with Russian officials.[101] On February 8, 2017, Flynn flatly denied having spoken to Kislyak in December 2016 about the sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama administration; however, the next day, U.S. intelligence officials shared an account indicating that such discussions did in fact take place.[102] Following this revelation, Flynn's spokesman released a statement that Flynn "indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up".[103]
Dismissal and investigation
Michael T. Flynn resignation letter
Commenting on Flynn′s resignation, on February 14 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated, "We got to a point not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, where a level of trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change ... The issue here was that the President got to the point where General Flynn’s relationship – misleading the Vice President and others, or the possibility that he had forgotten critical details of this important conversation had created a critical mass and an unsustainable situation. That’s why the President decided to ask for his resignation, and he got it."[106]
That same day (February 14), President Trump met with FBI Director James Comey in the Oval Office and reportedly told him "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go" adding "he's a good guy."[107] Comey subsequently testified that, "I had understood the President to be requesting that we drop any investigation of Flynn in connection with false statements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December ... I did not understand the president to be talking about the broader investigation into Russia or possible links to his campaign".[108] The propriety, and even the legality, of these words that Trump reportedly said to Comey about Flynn have become a subject of considerable public debate.[109] Several months after dismissing Flynn, Trump also dismissed Comey, which Comey attributed to the FBI's Russia investigation.[110]
Flynn had offered to testify to the FBI or the Senate and House Intelligence committees relating to the Russia probe in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution.[111] However, the Senate Intelligence Committee rejected Flynn's offer for testimony in exchange for immunity.[112] Flynn initially declined to respond to a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but he and the committee later struck a compromise.[42][17] The Pentagon inspector general is also investigating whether Flynn accepted money from foreign governments without the required approval.[15]
On November 5, 2017, NBC News reported that Robert Mueller has enough evidence for charges against Flynn and his son; Michael G. Flynn.[113] On November 10, the Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn is under investigation by Mueller for allegedly planning a kidnapping and extrajudicial rendition of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen to Turkey.[114][115] On November 22, NBC News reported that Michael T. Flynn's business partner Bijan Kian is a subject of the Mueller probe.[116] NBC has also reported that a Turkish businessman named Reza Zarrab, who was picked up last year by US authorities in Miami on Iranian sanctions violations and money laundering charges, is offering evidence against the subject.[117][118]
On November 23, 2017, it was reported that Flynn‘s lawyers have notified Trump's legal team they can no longer discuss anything regarding Mueller’s investigation, suggesting that Flynn may be cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating a deal.[119][120][121]
Plea bargain and statement of offense
Flynn statement of offense
It has been extraordinarily painful to endure these many months of false accusations of "treason" and other outrageous acts....Such false accusations are contrary to everything I have ever done and stood for. But I recognize that the actions I acknowledged in court today were wrong, and, through my faith in God, I am working to set things right.As part of Flynn's plea negotiations, his son, Michael G. Flynn, is not expected to be charged.[125] As of January 31, 2018, Flynn had not been sentenced.[126]
Bloomberg reporter Eli Lake wrote in an opinion piece on December 1, 2017, that two former Trump transition team officials provided information indicating that Jared Kushner was the senior member of the team described in Flynn's plea documents as having directed Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia, asking them to delay or vote against a United Nations resolution on the issue of Israeli settlements, contrary to the still-incumbent Obama administration's position of support for the resolution.[127][128] This was also confirmed by other news outlets, who cited multiple sources.[129][130]
Political views
Flynn is a registered Democrat, having grown up in a "very strong Democratic family".[131] However, he was a keynote speaker during the first night of the 2016 Republican National Convention,[72] and he was a surrogate and top national security adviser for President Donald Trump.During a July 10, 2016, interview on ABC News' This Week, when asked by host Martha Raddatz about the issue of abortion, Flynn stated, "women have to be able to choose."[131][132] The next day, Flynn said on Fox News that he is a "pro-life Democrat".[133]
Flynn has been a board member of ACT! for America,[134] and sees the Muslim faith as one of the root causes of Islamist terrorism.[36] He has described Islam as a political ideology and a cancer.[36][135] He once tweeted that "fear of Muslims is RATIONAL"[134] and included a video link claiming that Islam wants "80% of people enslaved or exterminated".[136] Initially supportive of Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US, Flynn later told Al Jazeera that a blanket ban was unworkable and has called instead for "vetting" of entrants from countries like Syria.[134] Flynn has stated the U.S. "should extradite Fethullah Gülen" to Turkey and "work constructively with Russia" in Syria.[38][137] In 2016, he said that he had personally seen photos of signs in the Southwest border area that were in Arabic to help Muslims entering the United States illegally. An officer of the National Border Patrol Council responded that the organization was not aware of any such signs.[138]
Writings
Flynn co-authored a report in January 2010 through the Center for a New American Security, entitled Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan.[139] That report, which became influential,[140] argued that U.S. intelligence agencies "must open their doors to anyone who is willing to exchange information, including Afghans and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as well as the US military and its allies".[141]Flynn is also an author of The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies, co-authored with Michael Ledeen, which was published by St. Martin's Press in 2016.[142] In reviewing the book, Will McCants of the Brookings Institution described Flynn's worldview as a confused combination of neoconservatism (an insistence on destroying what he sees as an alliance of tyranny, dictatorships, and radical Islamist regimes) and realism (support for working with "friendly tyrants"), although he acknowledged that this could be due to the book having two authors.[143]
Awards and decorations
Lieutenant General Flynn's decorations, medals and badges include:[6][144] |
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| Badge | Master Parachutist Badge | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st row | Defense Distinguished Service Medal | Defense Superior Service Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters | ||
| 2nd row | Legion of Merit with one bronze oak leaf cluster |
Bronze Star Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters |
Meritorious Service Medal with one silver oak leaf cluster |
Joint Service Commendation Medal |
| 3rd row | Army Commendation Medal with four bronze oak leaf clusters |
Army Achievement Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster |
National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star |
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with two bronze service stars |
| 4th row | Afghanistan Campaign Medal | Iraq Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars |
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal | Global War on Terrorism Service Medal |
| 5th row | Humanitarian Service Medal | Army Service Ribbon | Overseas Service Ribbon | NATO Medal |
| Badge | Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge | |||
| Badge | Ranger tab | |||
| Other U.S. agency decorations | |
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US Intelligence Community’s Gold Seal Medallion[144] |
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National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal[144] |
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National Security Agency Director’s Distinguished Service Medal[144] |
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US Coast Guard Distinguished Public Service Award[145] |
Other awards and recognitions
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This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. (February 2017)
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- The Ellis Island Medal of Honor.[146]
- The 2012 Association of Special Operations Professionals Man of the Year award.[147]
- Honorary doctorate from The Institute of World Politics.[6]
- The William J. Casey Medal of Honor from the Institute of World Politics.[148]
- The Director of Naval Intelligence's Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton Award for Leadership and Mentorship (first non-Navy recipient).[145]
- Federal Law Enforcement Foundation's Service to America Award[145]
H. R. McMaster
United States Army officer. In 2017, he became the 26th National Security Advisor, serving under President Donald Trump. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Born in Philadelphia, McMaster graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1984, and later earned a Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His Ph.D. thesis was critical of American strategy and military leadership during the Vietnam War and served as the basis for his book, Dereliction of Duty, which is widely read in the United States military. During the Gulf War, McMaster served as a captain in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, taking part in the Battle of 73 Easting.
After the Persian Gulf War, McMaster served as a military history professor at the United States Military Academy from 1994 to 1996, became a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Consulting Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).[2] He held a series of staff positions in the United States Central Command. In 2004, he took command of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and fought the Iraqi insurgency in Tal Afar. He became a top counter-insurgency adviser to General David Petraeus before serving as the Director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center. He also served as the Deputy to the Commander for Planning of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and, in 2012, he became Deputy Commanding General of the Army Training and Doctrine Command.
In February 2017, McMaster succeeded Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor. He remains on active duty as a lieutenant general in the United States Army until later in 2018, when he plans to retire.[3] McMaster resigned as National Security Advisor on March 22, 2018, effective April 9.[4][5][6]
Born in Philadelphia, McMaster graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1984, and later earned a Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His Ph.D. thesis was critical of American strategy and military leadership during the Vietnam War and served as the basis for his book, Dereliction of Duty, which is widely read in the United States military. During the Gulf War, McMaster served as a captain in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, taking part in the Battle of 73 Easting.
After the Persian Gulf War, McMaster served as a military history professor at the United States Military Academy from 1994 to 1996, became a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Consulting Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).[2] He held a series of staff positions in the United States Central Command. In 2004, he took command of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and fought the Iraqi insurgency in Tal Afar. He became a top counter-insurgency adviser to General David Petraeus before serving as the Director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center. He also served as the Deputy to the Commander for Planning of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and, in 2012, he became Deputy Commanding General of the Army Training and Doctrine Command.
In February 2017, McMaster succeeded Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor. He remains on active duty as a lieutenant general in the United States Army until later in 2018, when he plans to retire.[3] McMaster resigned as National Security Advisor on March 22, 2018, effective April 9.[4][5][6]
Contents
Early life
McMaster was born in Philadelphia on July 24, 1962.[7] His father, Herbert McMaster, was an infantryman who served with the United States Army in the Korean War while his mother, Marie C. "Mimi" McMaster (née Curcio),[8] was a school teacher and administrator.[9] He has a younger sister, Letitia.[9] He went to grammar school at Norwood Fontbonne Academy, graduating in 1976; high school at Valley Forge Military Academy, graduating in 1980. He earned a commission as a second lieutenant upon graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1984. McMaster earned a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). His thesis was critical of American strategy in the Vietnam War, which was further detailed in his 1997 book Dereliction of Duty.[10]Author: Dereliction of Duty
Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam is a book written by McMaster that explores the military's role in the policies of the Vietnam War. The book was based on his Ph.D. dissertation at UNC.[11] It harshly criticized high-ranking officers of that era, arguing that they inadequately challenged Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and President Lyndon B. Johnson on their Vietnam strategy. The book examines McNamara and Johnson's staff alongside the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other high-ranking military officers, and their failure to provide a successful plan of action either to pacify a Viet Cong insurgency or to decisively defeat the North Vietnamese army. McMaster also details why military actions intended to indicate "resolve" or to "communicate" ultimately failed when trying to accomplish sparsely detailed, confusing, and conflicting military objectives. The book is widely read in Pentagon circles and included in military reading lists.[12][13]Military career
President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster have lunch with service members on July 18, 2017.
During the Gulf War in 1991 he was a captain commanding Eagle Troop of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of 73 Easting.[14] During that battle, though significantly outnumbered and encountering the enemy by surprise as McMaster's lead tank crested a dip in the terrain, the nine tanks of his troop destroyed twenty-eight Iraqi Republican Guard tanks[15] without loss in twenty-three minutes.[16]
McMaster was awarded the Silver Star. The battle features in several books about Operation Desert Storm and is widely referred to in US Army training exercises. It also receives coverage in Tom Clancy's 1994 popular non-fiction book Armored Cav.[17] McMaster served as a military history professor at West Point from 1994 to 1996, teaching among other things the battles in which he fought. He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1999.[18]
From 1999 to 2002, McMaster commanded 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, and then took a series of staff positions at U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), including planning and operations roles in Iraq.
In his next job, as lieutenant colonel and later colonel, McMaster worked on the staff of USCENTCOM as executive officer to Deputy Commander Lieutenant General John Abizaid. When Abizaid received four-star rank and became Central Command's head, McMaster served as Director, Commander's Advisory Group (CAG), described as the command's brain trust.
In 2003 McMaster completed an Army War College research fellowship at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
In 2004, he was assigned to command the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (3rd ACR). Shortly after McMaster took command the regiment deployed for its second tour in Iraq and was assigned the mission of securing the city of Tal Afar. That mission culminated in September with Operation Restoring Rights and the defeat of the city's insurgent strongholds. President George W. Bush praised this success, and the PBS show Frontline broadcast a documentary in February 2006 featuring interviews with McMaster. CBS' 60 Minutes produced a similar segment in July,[19] and the operation was the subject of an article in the April 10, 2006, issue of The New Yorker.
Author Tim Harford has written that the pioneering tactics employed by 3rd ACR led to the first success in overcoming the Iraqi insurgency. Prior to 2005, tactics included staying out of dangerous urban areas except on patrols, with US forces returning to their bases each night. These patrols had little success in turning back the insurgency because local Iraqis who feared retaliation would very rarely assist in identifying them to US forces. McMaster deployed his soldiers into Tal Afar on a permanent basis, and once the local population grew confident that they weren't going to withdraw nightly, the citizens began providing information on the insurgents, enabling US forces to target and defeat them.[17][20] After hearing of McMaster's counter-insurgency success in Tal Afar, Vice President Dick Cheney invited the then-colonel to personally brief him on the situation in Iraq and give an assessment on what changes needed to be made to American strategy.[21]
McMaster passed command of the 3rd ACR on June 29, 2006, and joined the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, as a Senior Research Associate tasked to "conduct research to identify opportunities for improved multi-national cooperation and political-military integration in the areas of counterinsurgency, counter-terrorism, and state building", and to devise "better tactics to battle terrorism."[22]
From August 2007 to August 2008, McMaster was part of an "elite team of officers advising U.S. commander" General David Petraeus on counterinsurgency operations while Petraeus directed revision of the Army's Counterinsurgency Field Manual during his command of the Combined Arms Center.[23] Petraeus and most of his team were stationed in Fort Leavenworth at the time but McMaster collaborated remotely, according to senior team member John Nagl.[17][20]
McMaster as BCT guest lecturer in September 2009
McMaster as commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence in 2012
McMaster was nominated for major general on January 23, 2012, and selected to be the commander of the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning.[35] In February 2014, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel nominated McMaster for lieutenant general and in July 2014, McMaster pinned on his third star when he began his duties as Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and Director of TRADOC's Army Capabilities Integration Center.[36]
Army Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey remarked in 2011 that McMaster was "probably our best Brigadier General."[37] McMaster made Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in April 2014. He was hailed as "the architect of the future U.S. Army" in the accompanying piece written by retired Lt. Gen. David Barno, who commanded U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. "Major General Herbert Raymond McMaster might be the 21st century Army's pre-eminent warrior-thinker," Barno wrote, commenting on McMaster's "impressive command and unconventional exploits in the second Iraq war."[38] Barno also stated, "Recently tapped for his third star, H.R. is also the rarest of soldiers—one who has repeatedly bucked the system and survived to join its senior ranks."[39] In 2014, retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, a former Army vice chief, commented "It is heartening to see the Army reward such an extraordinary general officer who is a thought leader and innovator while also demonstrating sheer brilliance as a wartime brigade commander."[40]
McMaster during the April 2017 Syrian missile strike operation
National Security Advisor
On February 20, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump named McMaster to serve as his National Security Advisor following the resignation of Michael T. Flynn on February 13.[41][42] McMaster indicated that he "intends to remain on active duty while he serves as national security adviser."[43][44]Because McMaster intended to remain on active duty, his official assumption of the National Security Advisor's duties and responsibilities required a United States Senate vote; lieutenant generals and generals require Senate confirmation of their rank and assignments.[45] On March 6, 2017, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 23–2 to recommend to the full Senate that McMaster be confirmed for reappointment at his lieutenant general rank during his service as the National Security Advisor.[46] The committee recommendation was referred to the Senate on March 7, and the full Senate confirmed McMaster by a vote of 86–10 on March 15, 2017.[47]
In early August, McMaster was targeted by what some deemed a "smear campaign" after he fired several National Security Council staff members.[48][49][50] White House officials and journalists suspected Steve Bannon of leading these attacks.[51][52] Attorney Mike Cernovich, radio host Alex Jones and Breitbart News were among the foremost promoters of the anti-McMaster campaign; Cernovich's Web site for the campaign also included a cartoon depicting McMaster, which the ADL labeled antisemitic.[53][54] In addition, the Center for Security Policy criticized McMaster for not being sufficiently conservative and for not supporting Trump's agenda.[55][56][57] The anti-McMaster campaign prompted dismissive responses by administration officials, and a statement from Trump affirming his confidence in McMaster.[58][59]
In February 2018 McMaster said that it is now "incontrovertible" Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. McMaster, who spoke a day after a federal grand jury indicted more than a dozen Russians in connection with the interference, was addressing an international audience at the Munich Security Conference, including several Russian officials.[60]
On March 15, 2018, it was reported that President Trump had decided to dismiss McMaster from his position at a later, unspecified date. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied the reports in a tweet, claiming nothing had changed at the National Security Council.[61]
On March 22, 2018,[62] McMaster resigned as National Security Advisor, after sustaining the ire of conservatives for months and disagreeing with Trump on key foreign policy strategies, including on the administration's approach towards Russia, North Korea, and Iran.[63] He said in a statement that he plans to retire from the military sometime in the coming months.[3] Trump announced John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as McMaster's replacement.[4] McMaster's exit closely followed the departures of several other high-ranking officials in the administration, including Trump's long-time assistant and communications director, Hope Hicks, national economic advisor Gary Cohn, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Notably, similarly to Tillerson's dismissal, Trump first announced McMaster's departure from the administration via a public tweet.[64][5][6]
Decorations and badges
| U.S. military decorations | |
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Army Distinguished Service Medal |
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Silver Star |
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Defense Superior Service Medal |
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Legion of Merit with Oak leaf cluster |
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Bronze Star Medal with Oak leaf cluster |
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Purple Heart |
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Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Oak leaf cluster |
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Meritorious Service Medal with four Oak leaf clusters |
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Joint Service Commendation Medal |
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Army Commendation Medal with three Oak leaf clusters |
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Army Achievement Medal with three Oak leaf clusters |
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Valorous Unit Award |
| U.S. service (campaign) medals and service and training ribbons | |
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National Defense Service Medal with one service star |
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Southwest Asia Service Medal with three service stars |
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Afghanistan Campaign Medal |
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Iraq Campaign Medal with three service stars |
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Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal |
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Global War on Terrorism Service Medal |
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Humanitarian Service Medal |
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Army Service Ribbon |
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Army Overseas Service Ribbon with bronze award numeral 4 |
| Foreign decorations | |
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NATO Medal |
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Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) |
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Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) |
| U.S. badges, patches and tabs | |
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Combat Action Badge |
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Parachutist Badge |
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Ranger tab |
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3d Armored Cavalry Regiment distinctive unit insignia |
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3d Armored Cavalry Regiment Combat Service Identification Badge |
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10 Overseas Service Bars |
| U.S. orders | |
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Order of the Spur Cavalry Hat and Spurs (Gold) |
John F. Kelly
| John F. Kelly | |
|---|---|
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| 28th White House Chief of Staff | |
| Assumed office July 31, 2017 |
|
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Joe Hagin Rick Dearborn Kirstjen Nielsen Chris Liddell |
| Preceded by | Reince Priebus |
| 5th United States Secretary of Homeland Security | |
| In office January 20, 2017 – July 31, 2017 |
|
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Elaine Duke |
| Preceded by | Jeh Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Kirstjen Nielsen |
| Commander of United States Southern Command | |
| In office November 19, 2012 – January 16, 2016 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Douglas M. Fraser |
| Succeeded by | Kurt W. Tidd |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Francis Kelly May 11, 1950 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Karen Hernest |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Massachusetts Boston (BA) Georgetown University (MA) National Defense University (MS) |
| Net worth | $4 million[1] |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service/branch |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1970–1972 1972–1975 (inactive reserves) 1975–2016 |
| Rank |  General |
| Commands | United States Southern Command 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Multinational Force West |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit (2) with Combat "V" Meritorious Service Medal (2) |
Before entering the Trump administration, Kelly had been the commander of United States Southern Command, the unified combatant command responsible for American military operations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. He had previously served as the commanding general of the Multi-National Force West in Iraq from February 2008 to February 2009, and as the commander of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North in October 2009.[2] Kelly succeeded General Douglas M. Fraser as commander of U.S. Southern Command on November 19, 2012[3] and was in turn succeeded by Navy Admiral Kurt W. Tidd on January 14, 2016.
Kelly was appointed Secretary of Homeland Security on January 20, 2017, by President Trump. On July 28, 2017, he was appointed to replace Reince Priebus as White House Chief of Staff, taking office on July 31, 2017 shortly after Priebus had officially left his post. At six months, Kelly's term as Secretary of Homeland Security is the briefest in the office's relatively short history.
As chief of staff, Kelly is considered to be one of the most restrictionist members of the administration on the issue of immigration, along with Senior Advisor Stephen Miller.[4][5][6]
Contents
Early life and education
Kelly was born on May 11, 1950, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Josephine "Honey" (Pedalino) and John F. Kelly. His family was Catholic, his father of Irish ancestry and his mother of Italian descent.[7][8][9][10] His father was a postal worker in Brighton.[11] He grew up in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston.[10] Before he reached the age of 16, he hitchhiked to Washington state and rode the trains back, including a freight-hop from Seattle to Chicago.[10][12] He then served for one year in the United States Merchant Marine, where he says "my first time overseas was taking 10,000 tons of beer to Vietnam".[12][13]In 1970, when his mother told him that his draft number was coming up, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.[9][10][12] He served in an infantry company with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and was discharged to the inactive reserve as a sergeant in 1972 so that he could attend college.[9][10][12] He returned to active duty with the Marines in 1975, completed Officer Candidates School, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on December 27, 1975.[9][2] In 1976, he graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston and in 1984, he received a Master of Arts degree in National Security Affairs from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.[9][14] In 1995, Kelly graduated from the National Defense University in Washington, DC with a Master of Science in Strategic Studies.
Military career
Kelly returned to the Second Marine Division where he served as a rifle platoon and weapons platoon commander, company executive officer, assistant operations officer, and rifle company commander. Sea duty in Mayport, Florida, followed, at which time he served aboard aircraft carriers USS Forrestal (CV-59) and USS Independence (CV-62). In 1980, then-Captain Kelly attended the U.S. Army's Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. After graduation, he was assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., serving there from 1981 through 1984, as an assignment monitor. Kelly returned to the Second Marine Division in 1984, to command a rifle company and weapons company. Promoted to major in 1987, he then served as a battalion operations officer.[2]
Kelly's official U.S. Southern Command portrait
Completing duty under instruction and selected for lieutenant colonel, he was assigned as commanding officer, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (1st LAR), 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California. During his tenure, 1st LAR was called in to provide augmentation support for police in the city of Long Beach, California during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Holding this command position for two years, Kelly returned to the East Coast in 1994, to attend the National War College in Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1995 and was selected to serve as the Commandant's Liaison Officer to the U.S. House of Representatives, Capitol Hill, where he was promoted to colonel.[2]
Kelly testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee
In April 2003, Kelly took command of the newly formed Task Force Tripoli and drove it north from Baghdad into Samarra and Tikrit.[16] Kelly has stated that during the initial assault on Baghdad he was asked by a reporter for The Los Angeles Times if, considering the size of the Iraqi Army and the vast supplies of tanks, artillery and chemical weapons available to Saddam's forces, he would ever consider defeat. Kelly's response, as recounted by him at a 2007 San Diego Military Advisory Council networking breakfast, was, "hell these are Marines. Men like them held Guadalcanal and took Iwo Jima, Baghdad ain't shit." [sic][17]
Kelly briefing reporters at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia
Kelly's next assignment, in July 2007, was as commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).[21] On February 9, 2008 Kelly assumed command of the Multi-National Force–West in Iraq, replacing Major General Walter E. Gaskin.[22] After a year in Iraq, Kelly returned to the United States in February 2009.[23]
Kelly was nominated for lieutenant general on March 9, 2011, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 16, 2011.[24]
Kelly was the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense and personally greeted Secretary Leon Panetta at the entrance to the Pentagon on July 1, 2011, Panetta's first day as secretary.[25] Kelly was nominated for General on January 31, 2012, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 26, 2012.[26] He succeeded General Douglas M. Fraser as commander of U.S. Southern Command on November 19, 2012.[3][27]
In a 2014 speech regarding the War on Terror, Kelly said:
If you think this war against our way of life is over because some of the self-appointed opinion-makers and chattering class grow 'war weary,' because they want to be out of Iraq or Afghanistan, you are mistaken. This enemy is dedicated to our destruction. He will fight us for generations, and the conflict will move through various phases as it has since 9/11.[28]Kelly was succeeded as commander by Navy Admiral Kurt W. Tidd on January 14, 2016.
Secretary of Homeland Security
Kelly is ceremonially sworn in prior to President Trump's speech at DHS
Headquarters on January 25, 2017. Kelly was actually sworn in five days
prior.
In an April 2017 speech at George Washington University, Kelly said, "If lawmakers do not like the laws they've passed and we are charged to enforce, then they should have the courage and skill to change the laws. Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines."[33]
Kelly indicated days into the administration his interest in having the U.S.–Mexico border wall completed within two years.[34] On April 21, 2017, Kelly said the U.S.–Mexico border wall would begin construction "by the end of the summer."[35] Two days later, Kelly said he believed "a border wall is essential" as there were "tremendous threats" such as drugs and individuals coming into the US.[36] On May 2, Kelly stated his surprise in office holders "rejoicing in the fact that the wall will be slower to be built and, consequently, the southwest border under less control than it could be."[37]
In May 2017, Kelly said of terrorism, "It's everywhere. It's constant. It's nonstop. The good news for us in America is we have amazing people protecting us every day. But it can happen here almost anytime."[38] He said that the threat from terrorism was so severe that some people would "never leave the house" if they knew the truth.[38] In July, Kelly allegedly blocked Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke from taking a position in the DHS, though it was never confirmed.[39]
Assessment of tenure
Of his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security, USA Today wrote, "Kelly oversaw some of the most controversial policies of Trump's agenda, including a travel ban targeting several majority-Muslim countries, a reduction in refugee admissions and stepped-up deportations of undocumented immigrants."[40] According to the New Yorker, Kelly left the D.H.S. with areputation as one of the most aggressive enforcers of immigration law in recent American history. His record belies the short length of his tenure. In six months, Kelly eliminated guidelines that governed federal immigration agents' work; vastly expanded the categories of immigrants being targeted for deportation; threatened to abandon the Obama-era program that grants legal status to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children; and has even broached the idea of splitting up mothers and children at the border to "deter" people from coming to the U.S.[41]The D.H.S. under Kelly "became one of the few branches of the federal government that has been both willing and able to execute Trump's policy priorities."[41] Unlike other agency heads, Kelly did not clash with Trump.[40]
White House Chief of Staff
Trump appointed Kelly to the post of White House Chief of Staff on July 28, 2017, replacing Reince Priebus.[42] Priebus's ousting and Kelly's appointment followed a chaotic internal power struggle within the White House.[42] Kelly took office on July 31, 2017.[43] That same day, with Trump's approval, Kelly removed Anthony Scaramucci from his role as communications director, just ten days after Scaramucci was appointed to that role. Reportedly, Kelly had requested permission to remove Scaramucci after "Scaramucci had boasted about reporting directly to the president, not the chief of staff."[44] On August 18, 2017, Kelly removed Steve Bannon from his role as White House Chief Strategist, on behalf of President Trump.[45]Early into his tenure, media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and FiveThirtyEight speculated that Kelly would bring moderation and discipline to the White House.[46][47][48] In August 2017, early into Kelly's tenure, the Washington Post wrote that Kelly had "left no discernible imprint on the White House's philosophy" and that it was unclear if he would bring calm and rigor to the White House.[49] In a lengthy article on Kelly's tenure, the New York Times in October 2017 wrote that "for all of the talk of Mr. Kelly as a moderating force and the so-called grown-up in the room, it turns out that he harbors strong feelings on patriotism, national security and immigration that mirror the hard-line views of his outspoken boss."[50] By February 2018, Kelly had emerged as a hardliner on several issues (immigration, in particular) and been embroiled in a number of controversies,[46][51] and there were reports of pressure on Kelly to resign.[52]
According to several news outlets in early 2018, Kelly's influence in the White House had been diminished and Trump made several key decisions without his presence.[53][54][55]
Controversies
In October 2017, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL) criticized Trump for his phone call to the widow of a slain U.S. soldier, saying his remarks had been insensitive. Wilson had been in the widow's car when Mr. Trump had called her.[56] A few days later, Kelly held a press briefing where he defended Trump's phone call, which he had overheard, saying Trump "expressed his condolences in the best way that he could." Kelly harshly criticized Wilson, calling her "the empty barrel that makes the most noise" and stating that in a 2015 speech Wilson had "stood up" to inappropriately claim credit for securing federal funding for an FBI building in her district.[57][58] Video of her 2015 speech showed his description to be inaccurate.[59] Later that month, while in an interview with conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, Kelly said he stood by his comments on Wilson and would "never" apologize for his comments. Kelly said he would "talk about before her comments and at the reception afterwards" as a "package deal", but refused to elaborate further.[60][61]In the same October 2017 interview with Laura Ingraham, Kelly said that "the lack of ability to compromise led to the Civil War." He also described Robert E. Lee as an "honorable man" who "gave up ... his country to fight for his state," and claimed, "men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had to make their stand."[62] Several historians of the Civil War described Kelly's remarks as ignorant, and as a misuse of history reminiscent of Lost Cause mythology. They also broadly reject Kelly's remark that a failure to compromise led to the Civil War, noting that the war was fought over slavery and that a number of compromises on slavery were made in the lead-up to the war.[63] The White House defended Kelly's remarks, citing non-fiction writer and historian Shelby Foote.[64]
On February 6, 2018, Kelly made recorded remarks concerning a discrepancy between how many had enrolled in DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and how many were to be offered a path to citizenship, by saying "The difference between 690 [thousand] and 1.8 million were the people that some would say were too afraid to sign up; others would say are too lazy to get off their asses, but they didn't sign up".[65]
On February 7, 2018, White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned in the wake of reports that his two ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse, allegations that Porter said are false and "a coordinated smear campaign".[66] One ex-wife had a protective order from 2010 against Porter, and the other had photographic evidence of the alleged abuse.[66] The protective order had prevented Porter from obtaining a full security clearance, though the order's associated ex-wife said Porter's "integrity and ability to do his job is impeccable".[66] According to an unnamed senior administration official, Kelly was aware of the protective order and the domestic abuse allegations, and had promoted Porter within the White House.[66][67] Approached by media about the allegations, Kelly initially praised Porter, saying he was a "man of true integrity and honor, and I can't say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him."[66] Per an unnamed White House official, Porter resigned over the objections of Kelly, who had worked closely with Porter since becoming White House Chief of Staff.[68]
In a February 8 email to White House staff, Kelly wrote, "While we are all processing the shocking and troubling allegations made against a former White House staffer, I want you to know that we all take matters of domestic violence very seriously. Domestic violence is abhorrent and has no place in our society".[69] On February 9, 2018, The Washington Post reported that Kelly had instructed senior staff and aides to tell reporters that Kelly took immediate action to fire Porter upon hearing that domestic abuse allegations were credible; the Post noted this "version of events contradicts both the public record and accounts from numerous other White House officials in recent days as the Porter drama unfolded."[70] Kelly told reporters on March 2, 2018 that he sought Porter's resignation immediately after learning of the accusations on February 6 and regretted his handling of Porter's departure.[71]
Personal life
Kelly has been married to Karen Hernest since 1976. They raised three children together: Robert, John Jr., and Kathleen.[72]On November 9, 2010, Kelly's 29-year-old son, First Lieutenant Robert Michael Kelly,[73] was killed in action when he stepped on a landmine while leading a platoon of Marines on a patrol in Sangin, Afghanistan. The younger Kelly was a former enlisted Marine and was on his third combat tour, his first combat tour as a U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer. At the time of his death, Robert Kelly was with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. Robert Kelly's death made John Kelly the highest-ranking American military officer to lose a child in Iraq or Afghanistan.[74] Kelly's other son is a Marine Corps major.[75][76][77]
Military awards
Kelly's military decorations and awards: |
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See also
Oliver North
| Oliver North | |
|---|---|
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| Birth name | Oliver Laurence North |
| Nickname(s) | Ollie Ollie North |
| Born | October 7, 1943 San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/ |
United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1968–1990 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | |
| Commands held | Marine Corps Northern Training Area, Okinawa |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards | |
| Spouse(s) | Betsy North (m. 1967); 4 children |
| Other work |
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North is primarily remembered for his term as a National Security Council staff member during the Iran–Contra affair, a political scandal of the late 1980s. The scandal involved the illegal sale of weapons to Iran to encourage the release of U.S. hostages then held in Lebanon. North formulated the second part of the plan, which was to divert proceeds from the arms sales to support the Contra rebel groups in Nicaragua, which had been specifically prohibited under the Boland Amendment. North was granted limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before Congress about the scheme.
From 2001 to 2016, North hosted War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News.
In May 2018, North was chosen as the next President of the National Rifle Association.[1]
Contents
Early life
North was born in San Antonio, Texas, on October 7, 1943, the son of Ann Theresa (née Clancy) and Oliver Clay North, a U.S. Army major.[2][3] He grew up in Philmont, New York, and graduated from Ockawamick Central High School in 1961. He attended the State University of New York at Brockport for two years.[4]While at Brockport, North spent a summer at the United States Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, and gained an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1963. He received his commission as second lieutenant in 1968, having missed a year due to serious back and leg injuries from an auto accident in which a classmate was killed.[5] One of North's classmates at the Academy was future secretary of the Navy and U.S. senator Jim Webb, whom he beat in a middleweight championship boxing match at Annapolis.[6] (North had shown films of this match to Marine Medical Corps officials to prove that he had fully recovered from his serious accident and could endure the rigors of midshipman training.[5]) Their graduating class included Dennis C. Blair, Michael Mullen, Charles Bolden and Michael Hagee.
U.S. Marine Corps career
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In 1970, North returned to South Vietnam to testify as a character witness at the trial of LCpl Randall Herrod, a U.S. Marine formerly under his command who, along with four others, had been charged with the murder of sixteen Vietnamese civilians in the village of Son Thang.[9] (North claims Herrod had previously saved his life.[10] Herrod and one other were acquitted.[11]) North was promoted to captain in 1971 and served as the commanding officer of the U.S. Marine Corps' Northern Training Area in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.[citation needed]
After his duty in Okinawa, North was assigned for four years to Marine Corps Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. He was then promoted to major and served two years as the operations officer of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, commanded by then LtCol John Southy Grinalds, 2nd Marine Division in Camp Lejeune at Jacksonville, North Carolina. He attended the Command and Staff Course at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and graduated in 1981.[citation needed]
North began his assignment to the National Security Council (NSC) in Washington, DC, where he served as the deputy director for political–military affairs[12] from 1981 until his reassignment in 1986. In 1983, North received his promotion to lieutenant colonel,[13][14] which would be his last.
During his tenure at the NSC, North managed a number of missions. This included leading the hunt for those responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 299 American and French military personnel, an effort that saw North arranging a midair interception of an EgyptAir jet carrying those responsible for the Achille Lauro hijacking. While also at the NSC, he helped plan the U.S. invasion of Grenada and the 1986 Bombing of Libya.[12]
During his trial, North spent his last two years on active duty assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Virginia. He submitted his request to retire from the Marine Corps effective May 1, 1988, following his indictment for conspiring to defraud the United States by channeling the profits from US arms sales to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. After his trial and his appeal, all charges were dismissed.[15]
Military awards
North received the following military awards and decorations:[7][16][17][18] |
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| Basic Parachutist Badge | ||
| Silver Star Medal | Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" | |
| Purple Heart Medal with one 5⁄16" Gold Star | Defense Meritorious Service Medal | Meritorious Service Medal |
| Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat "V' and two 5⁄16" Gold Stars | Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with one 5⁄16" Gold Star | Combat Action Ribbon |
| Navy Unit Commendation | Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation with one 3⁄16" bronze star | National Defense Service Medal |
| Vietnam Service Medal with one 3⁄16" silver star | Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with one 3⁄16" bronze star | Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon |
| Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with silver star | Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with palm and frame | Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960–device |
| Marine Corps Expert Rifle Badge (not shown) | Marine Corps Expert Pistol Badge (not shown) | |
| Presidential Service Badge |
Iran–Contra affair
North's mugshot, taken on the day of his arrest
North solicited $10,000,000 from the Sultan of Brunei, to skirt U.S. prohibitions on funding the Contras. However, he gave the wrong number of the Swiss bank account intended to launder the money, and it went instead to a Swiss businessman. A Senate committee investigating the transaction tracked it down so it could be returned to Brunei.[20]
In an August 23, 1986 e-mail to National Security Advisor John Poindexter, North described a meeting with a representative of Panamanian General Manuel Noriega: "You will recall that over the years Manuel Noriega in Panama and I have developed a fairly good relationship," North writes before explaining Noriega's proposal. If U.S. officials can "help clean up his image" and lift the ban on arms sales to the Panamanian Defense Force, Noriega will "'take care of' the Sandinista leadership for us."[21][22]
North told Poindexter that General Noriega could assist with sabotage against the ruling party of Nicaragua, the Sandinista National Liberation Front. North supposedly suggested that Noriega be paid one million dollars in cash, from Project Democracy funds raised from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran—for the Panamanian leader's help in destroying Nicaraguan economic installations.[23]
In November 1986, as the sale of weapons was made public, North was dismissed by President Ronald Reagan. In an interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine, North said that on February 11, 1987, the FBI detected an attack on North's family[24] from the Peoples Committee for Libyan Students, a sleeper cell for the Islamic Jihad, with an order to kill North. His family was moved to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and lived with federal agents until North retired from the Marine Corps the following year.[25][26]
In July 1987, North was summoned to testify before televised hearings of a joint congressional committee that was formed to investigate the Iran–Contra scandal. During the hearings, North admitted that he had lied to Congress previously, for which, with other actions, he was later charged. He defended his actions by stating that he believed in the goal of aiding the Contras, whom he saw as freedom fighters against the Sandinistas and said that he viewed the Iran–Contra scheme as a "neat idea."[27] North admitted shredding government documents related to these activities, at William Casey's suggestion, when the Iran–Contra scandal became public. He also testified that Robert McFarlane had asked him to alter official records to delete references to direct assistance to the Contras and that he had helped.[28]
North was tried in 1988. He was indicted on 16 felony counts, and on May 4, 1989, he was initially convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and ordering the destruction of documents through his secretary, Fawn Hall. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard Gesell on July 5, 1989 to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours of community service. North performed some of his community service within Potomac Gardens, a public housing project in southeast Washington, DC.[29] However, on July 20, 1990, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),[30] North's convictions were vacated, after the appeals court found that witnesses in his trial might have been impermissibly affected by his immunized congressional testimony.[31]
The individual members of the prosecution team had isolated themselves from news reports and discussion of North's testimony, and while the defense could show no specific instance in which North's congressional testimony was used in his trial, the Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge had made an insufficient examination of the issue. Consequently, North's convictions were reversed. After further hearings on the immunity issue, Judge Gesell dismissed all charges against North on September 16, 1991.[32]
Later life and career
Oliver North in April 2002, autographing one of his books for a U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant.
Politics
In the 1994 election, North unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate as the Republican Party candidate in Virginia. Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia endorsed Marshall Coleman, a Republican who ran as an independent, instead of North. North lost, garnering 43 percent of votes, while incumbent Democrat Charles Robb,[33] a son-in-law of President Lyndon B. Johnson, won reelection with 46 percent. Coleman received 11 percent. North's candidacy was documented in the 1996 film A Perfect Candidate.[27]
Oliver North in 2005, pictured with Clinton Township, Franklin County, Ohio Assistant Fire Chief John Harris and Lieutenant Douglas Brown, at a public speaking event.
Books and media
North has written several best-selling books including Under Fire, One More Mission, War Stories—Operation Iraqi Freedom[35], Mission Compromised[36], The Jericho Sanction[37], and The Assassins[38].His book American Heroes was released nationally in the United States on May 6, 2008. In the book, "North addresses issues of defense against global terrorism, Jihad, and radical Islam from his firsthand perspective as a military officer and national security advisor and current Middle East war correspondent."[39] He writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column through Creators Syndicate.[40]
Oliver North's interview with Marine Maj. Chris E. Phelps, Iraq, 2005
North filming a scene of War Stories with Oliver North at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, 2010
In addition, he regularly speaks at both public and private events. North appears in an episode of Auction Kings to have his Marine Corps sword returned after it was lost and presumably stolen in 1980. North was credited as a military consultant in the 2012 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II and voiced himself in one level of the game. In Season 4, Episode 15 Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold of the TV series American Dad! Stan Smith searches under his house for Oliver North's hidden gold. In 2014 he received story credit for an episode of the TV series The Americans where the protagonist Soviet spies infiltrate a Contra training base in the United States.[44]
Freedom Alliance
In 1990, North founded the Freedom Alliance, a 501(c)(3) foundation "to advance the American heritage of freedom by honoring and encouraging military service, defending the sovereignty of the United States, and promoting a strong national defense." The foundation's primary activities include providing support for wounded combat soldiers and providing scholarships for the children of service members killed in action.[45]Beginning in 2003, Sean Hannity has raised over $10 million for the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund through Freedom Concerts and donations from The Sean Hannity Show and its listeners. The charity has been criticized by conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel for distributing too little of its funds for charitable purposes.[46] Hannity, North, and other charity spokespersons say that all of the net proceeds from the Freedom Concerts are donated to the fund.[47]
National Rifle Association
On May 7, 2018, the National Rifle Association (NRA) announced that North would become the organization's next president within the following weeks.[1][48] He will succeed Pete Brownell, the incumbent President. North is a board member in the NRA and appeared at NRA national conventions in 2007[49] and 2008.[50]Personal life
In 1967, North married Betsy Stuart; they have four children.[51] Although raised in the Roman Catholic faith of his mother, North has long attended Protestant or evangelical services with his wife and children.[52] North lived in McLean, Virginia.[53]In popular culture
North was lampooned as "The Mute Marine" during the 1986 season of Saturday Night Live.[54]- In the 2017 film American Made, he was portrayed by Robert Farrior.
- In the 2005 film Lord of War, the character Colonel Oliver Southern is based on Oliver North.
- In the television sitcom American Dad, the show used Oliver North in an episode where Stan is addicted in trying to find ‘Ollie Norths’ gold, which is hidden under the Smiths’ home.
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