Donald Henry Rumsfeld was an American politician,government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford,and again from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He was both the youngest and the oldest secretary of defense. Additionally,Rumsfeld was a four-term U.S. Congressman from Illinois (1963–1969),director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (1969–1970),counselor to the president (1969–1973),the U.S. Representative to NATO (1973–1974),and the White House Chief of Staff (1974–1975). Between his terms as secretary of defense,he served as the CEO and chairman of several companies.
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense,the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces,and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet. 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.
John Marlan Poindexter is a retired United States naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor during the Reagan administration. He was convicted in April 1990 of multiple felonies as a result of his actions in the Iran–Contra affair,but his convictions were reversed on appeal in 1991. During the George W. Bush administration,he served a brief stint as the director of the DARPA Information Awareness Office. He is the father of NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy Captain Alan G. Poindexter.
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank,U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense,U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia,and dean of Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Copper Green is reportedly one of several code names for a U.S. black ops program in which coercive psychological and physical measures were used on detainees in military prisons. Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported on the term in an article in the May 24,2004 issue of The New Yorker. According to Hersh,the task force was formed with the direct approval of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan,and run by Deputy Undersecretary Stephen Cambone. Hersh claims the Special Access Program (SAP) members were told "Grab whom you must. Do what you want." The program allegedly designed physical coercion and sexual humiliation techniques for use against Muslim Arab men specifically,to retrieve information from suspects,and to blackmail them into becoming informants.
Victoria "Torie" Clarke is an American communications consultant who has served in several private sector positions and in three Republican presidential administrations,most notably as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Donald Rumsfeld.
Eric Steven Edelman is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2005–2009),U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (2003–2005),U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Finland (1998–2001),and Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001–2003). A career Foreign Service Officer,Edelman entered the Senior Foreign Service in 1992. He is a recipient of the Secretary of Defense's award for Distinguished Civilian Service (1993) and the State Department's Superior Honor Award.
Jeffrey D. "J.D." Gordon is an American communications and foreign policy adviser,who served as a Pentagon spokesman during the George W. Bush Administration and later a national security adviser to Donald Trump. Gordon is a retired United States Navy officer who was a senior adviser to numerous prominent Republican political figures. Gordon has also been a television commentator and columnist with various media outlets including One America News Network,Fox News,Sky News,The Daily Caller,USA Today,The Hill,The Washington Times and others. Gordon founded Protect America Today,a national security–themed Super PAC in February 2012.
Matthew N. Latimer is an American attorney,businessman,and former political speechwriter. Latimer is a founding partner of Javelin,a literary and creative agency located in Alexandria,Virginia that offers representation,digital,and public relations services. He also served in a variety of appointments during George W. Bush Administration.
Michael Bruce Donley is a United States government official who is the director of administration and management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense since May 2021,having served in the same position from 2005 to 2008. In the Bush and Obama administrations,Donley served as the 22nd secretary of the Air Force,amongst other positions. Donley has 30 years of experience in the national security community,including service on the staff of the United States Senate,White House and The Pentagon.
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. A Naval intelligence officer in the Reserve,he was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs in the administration of President George W. Bush.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that,Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013,and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps;Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014,he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense,he went on to serve on the board of Raytheon. As of October 2023,he serves on the Special Competitive Studies Project's board of advisors.
R.C. Hammond is an American political strategist and communications director. He served as a communications adviser for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,and as the press secretary to Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign. He previously served Gingrich at his American Solutions for Winning the Future PAC. Hammond has worked as press secretary or communications director for Senator Gordon H. Smith,Senator John E. Sununu and Representative Shelley Moore Capito. He founded R. C. Hammond Public Affairs in 2012.
John F. Kirby is a retired United States Navy rear admiral serving as Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House since late May 2022. He previously served as Pentagon Press Secretary for the first year and a half of the Biden administration,and worked as a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN from 2017 to 2021. He served in the Obama administration as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State from 2015 to 2017.
Marshall Billingslea is a former Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing at the United States Department of the Treasury. He was the Trump Administration's nominee to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs,and he previously served as a U.S. Senate staffer and as a Department of Defense official.
Colin Hackett Kahl is an American government official and academic who served as under secretary of defense for policy in the administration of President Joe Biden from April 28,2021,to July 14,2023. Previously,he served as national security advisor to the vice president under then-Vice President Joe Biden (2014–2017). After the Obama administration,Kahl served as a Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University.
Alyssa Farah Griffin is an American political strategist and television personality. She was the White House Director of Strategic Communications and Assistant to the President in 2020 during the presidency of Donald Trump. She is a co-host of the daytime talk show The View and also appears on CNN as a political commentator.
Guy Snodgrass is a retired American naval aviator,TOPGUN graduate and instructor,who served as Jim Mattis's speechwriter and chief of communications during his time as Secretary of Defense. His book Holding the Line:Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis was released in October 2019. The book details key decisions and moments during Mattis' time as Secretary of Defense and provides the author's first-hand look into the relationship between Mattis and Trump,the Pentagon,The White House,and American national security decision making.
Kashyap Pramod "Kash" Patel is an American attorney,children's book author,and former government official. A loyalist of Donald Trump,he served as a National Security Council official,senior advisor to the acting Director of National Intelligence,and chief of staff to the acting United States secretary of defense during the Trump presidency. A member of the Republican Party,Patel previously worked as a senior aide to congressman Devin Nunes when he chaired the House Intelligence Committee. He was previously a federal public defender,a federal prosecutor working on national security cases,and a legal liaison to the United States Armed Forces.
Chris Meagher is an American political advisor serving as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. He was appointed on September 9,2022. He previously served as a White House Deputy Press Secretary in the Biden administration beginning March 1,2021,succeeding TJ Ducklo. He also served as a senior public affairs official for Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
