Deputy National Security Advisor Explained

The United States Deputy National Security Advisor is a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and the United States National Security Council, serving under the President's National Security Advisor.

Among other responsibilities, the Deputy National Security Advisor often serves as Executive Secretary to the National Security Council Principals Committee, and as chairman of the National Security Council Deputies Committee. The role changes according to the organizational philosophy and staffing of each White House and there are often multiple deputies to the National Security Advisor charged with various areas of focus.^{[1] [2]}

The position is held by Jonathan Finer, who assumed office on January 20, 2021. He is titled as Principal Deputy National Security Advisor.

List of Principal Deputies

No.	Picture	Name	Term	President
1		Walt Rostow	1961	John F. Kennedy
2		Carl Kaysen	1961–1963
3		Robert Komer	1965	Lyndon B. Johnson
4		Francis M. Bator	1965–1967^[3]
5		Richard V. Allen	1969	Richard Nixon
6		Alexander Haig	1970–1973
7		Brent Scowcroft	1973–1975	Gerald Ford
8		William G. Hyland	1975–1977
9		David L. Aaron	1977–1981	Jimmy Carter
10		James W. Nance	1981–1982	Ronald Reagan
11		Robert McFarlane	1982–1983
12		John Poindexter	1983–1985
13		Donald Fortier	1985–1986
14		Peter Rodman	1986
15		Colin Powell	1986–1987
16		John Negroponte	1987–1989
17		Robert Gates	1989–1991	George H. W. Bush
18		Jonathan Howe	1991–1993
19		Sandy Berger	1993–1997	Bill Clinton
20		James Steinberg	1997–2001
21		Stephen Hadley	2001–2005	George W. Bush
22		Jack Dyer Crouch II	2005–2007
23		James Jeffrey	2007–2008
24		Thomas E. Donilon	2009–2010	Barack Obama
25		Denis McDonough	2010–2013
26		Tony Blinken	2013–2015
27		Avril Haines	2015–2017
28		K. T. McFarland	2017
29		Ricky L. Waddell	2017–2018
30		Mira Ricardel	2018
31		Charles Kupperman	2019
32		Matthew Pottinger	2019–2021
33		Jonathan Finer	2021–present	Joe Biden

List of Additional Deputy National Security Advisors

Aside from the principal deputy, since the September 11 attacks, there have been some cases of other deputy-level positions created with an additional specifier title and alternate role. These include:

Bush administration

• Wayne Downing (2001–2002) for Combatting Terrorism
• David McCormick (2006–2007) for International Economic Affairs^[4]
• Michele Davis (2005-2006) for Strategic Communications
• Corry Schiermeyer (2006–2007) acting for Strategic Communications
• Mark Pfeifle (2007-2009) for Strategic Communications
• Juan Zarate (2005-2009) for Combating Terrorism
• Elliott Abrams (2005-2009) for Global Democracy Strategy

Obama Administration

• John O. Brennan (2009–2013) for Homeland Security
• Ben Rhodes (2009–2017) for Strategic Communications
• Lisa Monaco (2013–2017) for Homeland Security
• Wally Adeyemo (2015–2016) for International Economics^[5]

Trump Administration

• Dina Powell (2017–2018) for Strategy
• Nadia Schadlow (2018) for Strategy
• Victoria Coates (2019–2020) for Middle East and North African Affairs

Biden Administration

• Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall (2021–present) for Homeland Security & Counterterrorism
• Anne Neuberger (2021–present) for Cyber and Emerging Technology
• Daleep Singh (2021–2022) for International Economics
• Mike Pyle (2022–2024) for International Economics
• Daleep Singh (2024–present) for International Economics^[6]

References

1. NSPD-1 - Organization of the National Security Council System, 13 February 2001
2. Center for American Progress Organization of the National Security Council System, 13 January 2017
3. https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/about_state/history/vol_xv/persons.html Foreign Relations of the United States 1964-68, Vol. XV
4. Web site: David H. McCormick .
5. Web site: Leadership & Staff About CSIS CSIS . 2024-05-24 . www.csis.org . en.
6. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-official-daleep-singh-return-white-house-2024-02-15/