James Jones

National Security Adviser

Status: Named; no Senate confirmation needed

About Gen. James Jones

Mr. Obama appointed retired Marine Gen. James Jones to his Cabinet Dec. 1. He is a former Marine Corps commander and was head of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe. He retired from the military in early 2007 after 40 years of service.
Gen. Jones brings an unusual resume to the White House post. He spoke English and French as a child in Paris, where his father was an International Harvester executive. He played basketball at Georgetown University, where he graduated from the School of Foreign Service before joining the Marine Corps. He commanded a platoon for two years in Vietnam. In the early 1980s, he served as a Marine liaison to the Senate. His boss was the future Sen. John McCain.

He also has nurtured close ties to the Democrats, serving as a senior military assistant in the Clinton Pentagon, and then as Marine commandant. Under President Bush, he became the military head of NATO in 2003. Gen. Jones spent most of the last two years running an energy task force at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Obama's Hawk - December 17, 2008 - In the spring of 1971, a young Marine captain named James L. Jones stood guard as part of a phalanx surrounding the Capitol, with shoot-to-kill orders should antiwar protesters try to storm the building.