page_title: Mira Ricardel
section_title: Aide to Dole
hierarchical_section_title: Mira Ricardel / Career / Aide to Dole
caption_attribution_description: English: Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (right) meets with Minister of Defense Kodir Ghulomov (left foreground), of Uzbekistan, in the Pentagon on Nov. 30, 2001. The two defense leaders are meeting to discuss a range of bilateral security issues including regional support for the war on terrorism. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Eurasia Mira Baratta and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace, U.S. Marine Corps, joined Rumsfeld and Ghulomov in the talks.
context_page_description: Mira Radielovic Ricardel, is an American government official who served as Deputy National Security Advisor from May 2018 to November 2018, until being fired at the request of First Lady Melania Trump. She has since joined the Chertoff Group.
  Earlier in the Trump administration, Ricardel served as a Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director in the Office of Presidential Personnel, and Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration. In years prior to that, she served as a foreign policy advisor to U.S. Senator Bob Dole and held positions in the U.S. Department of Defense during the Presidency of George W. Bush.
context_section_description: From 1989 to 1996, Ricardel worked as a legislative assistant to Senate Republican leader Bob Dole, drafting legislation and specializing in foreign affairs and defense policy. She made appearances in public, and her work with Dole earned her a portrayal in the nationally-circulated Weekly Standard in 1995. During the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, her personal knowledge of the languages and cultures involved was credited with improving Dole's understanding of the conflict. One official said, "She knows the issues, so he knows the issues."
  Ricardel's Croatian heritage brought forth accusations that she was influencing Dole to take an anti-Serbian policy stance. But in fact Dole had a long record of warning about the actions and character of Serbia leader Slobodan Milosevic. Ricardel said of Dole in 1999, "He's been out there for a decade saying we need to get involved. And no one's been paying attention. Or they pay attention for a while and manage the problem, but they don't solve it."
  Ricardel served as an advisor on defense and foreign policy on Dole's 1996 presidential campaign, when he won the Republican nomination but lost the general election to Bill Clinton.
caption: Then known as Mira Baratta, in a defense-related meeting in 2001
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