Colonel William A. Phillips

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 Donald Trump
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
Obama Administration
Trump Administration
Biden Administration

References