page_title: James L. Jones
section_title: National Security Advisor
hierarchical_section_title: James L. Jones / Post-military career / National Security Advisor
caption_attribution_description: English: As President Barack Obama reads over his speech, his national security team confer aboard Marine One en route from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base. From left, NSC Advisor Gen. James Jones, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The President traveled to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in West Point, N.Y., where he delivered a speech on his new Afghanistan policy Dec. 1, 2009.
context_page_description: James Logan Jones Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 22nd United States National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2010. During his military career, he served as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1999 to January 2003, and Commander, United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 2003 to 2006. Jones retired from the Marine Corps on February 1, 2007, after 40 years of service.
  After retiring from the Marine Corps, Jones remained involved in national security and foreign policy issues. In 2007, Jones served as chairman of the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, which investigated the capabilities of the Iraqi police and armed forces. In November 2007, he was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of State as special envoy for Middle East security. He served as chairman of the Atlantic Council from June 2007 to January 2009, when he assumed the post of National Security Advisor which he held until November 2010.
context_section_description: On December 1, 2008, President-elect Obama announced Jones as his selection for National Security Advisor.  The National Security Advisor is appointed by the president without confirmation by the United States Senate.
  The selection surprised people because, as Michael Crowley reported, "The two men didn't meet until Obama's foreign policy aide, Mark Lippert, arranged a 2005 sit-down, and, as of this October, Jones had only spoken to Obama twice". Crowley speculated that Jones' record suggests he is "someone who, unencumbered by strong ideological leanings, can evaluate ideas dispassionately whether they come from left or right", and, "This is probably why Obama picked him". Jones was also picked because he is well respected and likely to possess the skills to navigate the other prestigious and powerful cabinet members.
  Though he didn't know Gates especially well, both men shared long experience in the national security establishment (Gates was in the Air Force and previously headed the CIA). Jones and Clinton had a more direct connection from her tenure on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The two were said to have particularly clicked at a 2005 conference on security policy in Munich. Jones hosted a small private dinner that included Clinton and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, among others; at the end of the convivial evening, according to one person present, Jones followed Clinton out to her car to visit in private.
  Jones assumed the post when Obama was sworn into office on January 20, 2009. He announced his resignation as National Security Advisor on October 8, 2010, and was succeeded by Thomas E. Donilon.
caption: Interior of a VH-3D Sea King Marine One transporting President Obama and Gen Jones
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