The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security,military,and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House,it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States,and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order,or relative preeminence,for domestic and foreign government officials at diplomatic,ceremonial,and social events within the United States and abroad. The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy,and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies. Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents,vice presidents,first ladies,second ladies,and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.
John H. Biggs is a former director of The Boeing Company from their 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas until May 2011,and the National Bureau of Economic Research as well as a trustee of Washington University in St. Louis. He was previously chairman and chief executive officer of financial services company TIAA-CREF from January 1993 until November 2002.
Rex Wayne Tillerson is an American energy executive who served as the 69th United States secretary of state from 2017 to 2018 in the first administration of Donald Trump. From 2006 to 2016,he was chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil.
Herbert Monroe Allison,Jr. was an American businessman who oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability from 2009 to 2010. His previous positions included president and CEO of Fannie Mae,a post to which he was appointed in September 2008,after Fannie was placed into conservatorship. Prior to that,Allison was chairman,president and chief executive officer of TIAA from 2002 until his retirement in 2008.
Thomas Alfred Shannon Jr. is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018. In early 2017,Shannon served as acting United States Secretary of State until President Donald Trump's nominee,Rex Tillerson,was confirmed. He was also acting Deputy Secretary of State of the United States until the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee,John J. Sullivan.
Evelyn May Lieberman was an American public affairs professional who,during the Clinton administration,became the first woman to serve as White House Deputy Chief of Staff,and was the first United States Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Clifton Reginald Wharton Jr. is an American university president,corporate executive and former United States deputy secretary of state. In his multiple careers,he has been an African-American pioneer.
Philip Thomas Reeker is an American diplomat and career foreign service officer with the Department of State who currently serves as the senior advisor for Caucasus negotiations. He was previously Chargéd'affaires of the United States mission to the United Kingdom from 2021 to 2022 and acting assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2019 to 2021.
Brian H. Hook is an American diplomat,lawyer and government official. In 2021,he joined Cerberus Capital Management as vice chairman for global investments. He is an adjunct professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.
John Joseph Sullivan is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2020 to 2022,and who previously served as the 19th United States Deputy Secretary of State from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,Sullivan served as Acting United States Secretary of State from April 1,2018,to April 26,2018,following President Donald Trump's dismissal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13,2018,until Tillerson's official successor,Mike Pompeo,was sworn in. Tillerson did not officially leave office until March 31,2018. Sullivan,however,was delegated all responsibilities of the Secretary of State beginning March 13.
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.
Donald Trump assumed office as president of the United States on January 20,2017,and his first term ended on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Margaret Judith Ann Peterlin is an American lawyer. She served as the Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of State from February 2017 until the end of March 2018. She was appointed to the position by former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Since July 6,2018,she has served as the senior vice president of global external and public affairs for AT&T.
Susan Ashton Thornton is a former American diplomat. She served as acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs during the first Trump administration.
Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl is a Swiss-American businessman and former government official,having held the position of Counselor of the United States Department of State from May 1,2018,to January 20,2021. He was appointed by and reported to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,and replaced Maliz E. Beams. Along with the role of Counselor,he served as the Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the Department of State from March to September 2020.
Jennifer Leigh Williams is an American United States Department of State official who has served as a special advisor to U.S. vice president Mike Pence on European and Russian affairs. Williams testified under subpoena,in the impeachment hearings of Donald Trump,in closed-door hearings before the House intelligence,Oversight,and Foreign Affairs committees on November 9,2019. She gave public testimony to the House of Representatives ten days later.
Elizabeth Marie Allen is an American political advisor who served as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in the Biden administration. She had previously served in his administration as assistant secretary of state for global public affairs. She was White House deputy communications director during the Obama administration. Allen resigned from the State Department on August 2,2024,to take up a role as chief of staff to Tim Walz,the then-unannounced running mate of Democratic presidential candidate and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris.
