PRESIDENT OBAMA APPOINTS CARIBBEAN AMERICAN, U.N. AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE, AS NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, June 5th in the Rose Garden, President Obama announced two new personnel moves that will round out a new national security team for the second term. These moves will allow the President to build on the success of ending the war in Iraq, winding down the war in Afghanistan, degrading al Qaeda, rebuilding our alliances, and restoring America’s standing around the globe.

After more than four years overseeing the work of the National Security Council, Tom Donilon will depart in July as National Security Advisor and will be succeeded by Susan Rice. Ambassador Rice will be succeeded by Samantha Power as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, pending Senate confirmation.

Ambassador Susan Rice
Ambassador Rice has been a close advisor to President Obama for over six years. Her Caribbean roots in Jamaica hail from her maternal grandparents. Ambassador Rice has deep national security experience—having served with distinction in senior positions at the U.S. Mission to the UN, the State Department and the National Security Council, and as a member of the President’s Cabinet. She has more than two decades of experience on matters of national security and foreign policy both in and out of government, and has the full trust and confidence of the President.

Ambassador Rice graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, was a Rhodes Scholar, and has a Master’s and PhD in international relations from Oxford University. She served in two successive positions at the NSC, including as Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs during the Clinton Administration. She was also Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1997-2001 and was a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution, where she co-authored the book Confronting Poverty: Weak States and U.S. National Security.