Thomas E. "Ted" McNamara (born 1940) is a

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diplomat and State Department official.

Biography

Thomas E. McNamara was born in

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in 1940. He was educated at Manhattan College, graduating with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1962. He then attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, receiving an

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In 1965, McNamara joined the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carry ...

. As a diplomat, he was at various times stationed in

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Lubumbashi Lubumbashi (former names: ( French), (Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katang ...

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...

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, and Bogota. In the 1970s, he was active in the negotiation of several major arms control agreements, serving in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1974 and 1975. From 1980 to 1983, he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy to Zaire (now the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

) in Kinshasa. From 1983 to 1986, McNamara was a Deputy Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs. In 1986,

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Ronald Reagan appointed McNamara to the

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as Director of Counterterrorism and Counternarcotics. President Reagan nominated McNamara as

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in 1988. He held this post until 1991, at which time President George H. W. Bush appointed him as

Special Assistant to the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for International Programs and African Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He served as Acting

Coordinator for Counterterrorism The Coordinator for Counterterrorism heads the Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism, which coordinates U.S. government efforts to fight terrorism. As the head of the counterterrorism bureau, the coordinator for counterterror ...

1992-1993. McNamara became Principal Deputy

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs is a position within the U.S. Department of State that manages the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, charged with linking the Department of Defense and the Department of State b ...

in July 1993, and then, following nomination by President

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and

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, became Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs on October 12, 1994. He held this office until January 9, 1998. He also served in 1997 and 1998 as Special Negotiator for Panama Canal Reversion. McNamara retired from government service in 1998, becoming President and CEO of the

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and the

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. Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, McNamara, as an expert in

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

, returned to government service as Senior Advisor for Counter Terrorism and Homeland Security to the Secretary of State until July 2004. Following passage of the

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) is a 235-page Act of Congress, signed by President George W. Bush, that broadly affects United States federal terrorism laws. The act comprises several separate titles with var ...

of 2004, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on March 15, 2006 appointed McNamara Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment reporting through the Director of National Intelligence to the President and the Congress. He is the third recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal.

References

Appointment of Thomas E. McNamara as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for International Programs and African Affairs in 1991
*http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/biographies/mcnamara.html Archived State Department Biography * https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/mcnamara-thomas-edmund
Profile from the Carnegie CouncilProfile from COPS
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Thomas E. 1940 births United States Department of State officials Living people Elliott School of International Affairs faculty People from New Haven, Connecticut Manhattan College alumni University of Notre Dame alumni United States National Security Council staffers Ambassadors of the United States to Colombia United States Department of Justice officials United States Foreign Service personnel American expatriates in France American expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo American expatriates in the Soviet Union