The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the leader and chief executive officer of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces. The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of the president of the United States, who is the commander-in-chief. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a defense minister in many other countries. The secretary of defense is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.
James Franklin Jeffrey is an American diplomat who served most recently as the United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement and the Special Envoy to the International military intervention against ISIL.
Robert Carl "Bud" McFarlane is a retired Marine Corps officer who served as National Security Advisor to President of the United States Ronald Reagan from 1983 through 1985.
William James Crowe Jr. was a United States Navy admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and as the ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Bill Clinton.
David Michael Satterfield is an American diplomat and U.S. Ambassador, who has served extensively in the Middle East, including the Persian Gulf area, Lebanon, and Iraq. He later served as a Senior Advisor on Iraq for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was Director General of the Multinational Force and Observers, the peacekeeping force for the Sinai Peninsula from June 2009 until August 2017. He was chargé d'affaires to Egypt from August 2013 to January 2014 and was subsequently Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Libya. From September 2017 to June 2019 he served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and was confirmed as US ambassador to Turkey on June 27, 2019.
Leo Sidney Mackay Jr. is an American businessman, and a former deputy secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Vice Admiral Melvin Gene Williams Jr. is an American retired officer in the United States Navy. He is the former Commander, U.S. Second Fleet and former Director, Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Center of Excellence.
Mark Howard Buzby is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who most recently served as the Administrator of the United States Maritime Administration. He retired from the Navy in 2013 and joined Carnival Cruise Line's Safety & Reliability Review Board. In June 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Buzby to be the next Administrator of the United States Maritime Administration. He was confirmed to the position by the United States Senate on August 3, 2017. Administrator Buzby resigned from his position in the United States Maritime Administration on Monday January 11, 2021, along with Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao due to 2021 Storming of the United States Capitol.
Robert Leon Wilkie Jr. is an American lawyer and government official who served as the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2018 to 2021, during the Trump administration. He was previously Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness during the Trump administration, from November 2017 to July 2018. An Naval intelligence in the Reserve, he was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs in the administration of President George W. Bush.
Robert Charles O'Brien Jr. is an American attorney who served as the 28th United States national security advisor from 2019 to 2021. He was the fourth and final person to hold the position during the presidency of Donald Trump.
John R. Allen is the president of the Brookings Institution, a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general, and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A). On September 13, 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Allen as special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He was succeeded in that role by Brett McGurk on October 23, 2015. He is the co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence with Darrell M. West and Future War and the Defence of Europe alongside LTG (Ret.) Frederick “Ben” Hodges and Professor Julian Lindley French.
Robert Alan McDonald served as the eighth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He is the retired chairman, president, and CEO of Procter & Gamble. In 2014 he became Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Peter Brian Hegseth is an American television host and author.
John Francis Kirby is a retired rear admiral in the United States Navy serving as the Press Secretary for the United States Department of Defense and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs since 2021. He previously worked as a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN from 2017 to 2021. Prior to that, he served in the Obama administration as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State from 2015 to 2017.
Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr. is a former United States government official and a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army. He previously served as the National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, and as the Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States National Security Council in the Trump administration. He served as National Security Advisor on an acting basis following the resignation of Michael T. Flynn.
William Ryan Owens was a decorated United States Navy SEAL senior chief petty officer. He died in the Yakla raid in Yemen, making him the first American to die in combat under the Trump administration.
Mark Thomas Esper is an American manufacturing executive and politician who served as the 27th United States Secretary of Defense from July 2019 to November 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the 23rd U.S. Secretary of the Army from November 2017 to July 2019.
Randy C. Reeves is an American military officer and government official who served as the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs from 2017 to 2021. He served in the military for 27 years and is a veteran of the Gulf War, Iraq War, and Operation Enduring Freedom. Prior to assuming his current role, he was the executive director of the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board and president of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs. He left office on January 20, 2021.
Kenneth John Braithwaite II is an American politician, diplomat, businessman and naval officer who served as the 77th secretary of the Navy from May 29, 2020, to January 20, 2021 in the Donald Trump administration. Prior to that, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Norway, beginning February 8, 2018. Braithwaite is a retired U.S. Navy one-star rear admiral, having served in the Iraq War.
Julia Nesheiwat is an American national security adviser who served as the 10th Homeland Security Advisor in the Donald Trump Administration, from 2020 to 2021. She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.
