Officially known as the "
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs," the National Security Advisor is the
White House's resident expert on, well,
national security. Perhaps counterintuitively, he/she does
not head the
National Security Council: that honor belongs to the
Big Cheese Himself. All the Advisor does is advise the President. They are essentially
viziers. Really, really smart viziers.
The current advisor, having taken office on January 26, 2005, is Stephen Hadley. Before him, we had:
- Condoleezza Rice (January 20, 2001)
- Samuel Berger (March 14, 1997)
- W. Anthony Lake (January 20, 1993)
- Brent Scrowcroft (January 20, 1989)
- Colin Powell (November 23, 1987)
- Frank Carlucci (December 2, 1986)
- John Poindexter (December 4, 1985)
- Robert McFarlane (October 17, 1983)
- William P. Clark (January 4, 1982)
- Richard Allen (January 21, 1981)
- Zbigniew Brzezinski (January 20, 1977)
- Brent Scowcroft (November 3, 1975)
- Henry Kissinger (December 2, 1968)
- Walt Rostow (April 1, 1966)
- McGeorge Bundy (January 20, 1961)
- Gordon Gray (June 24, 1958)
- Robert Cutler (January 7, 1957)
- Dillon Anderson (April 2, 1955)
- Robert Cutler (March 23, 1953)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/