The assistant to the president for national security affairs (APNSA), commonly referred to as the national security advisor (NSA),The National Security Advisor and Staff: p. 1. is a senior aide in the

Executive Office of the President The Executive Office of the President of the United States (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 office consists o ...

, based at the

West Wing The West Wing of the White House is the location of the office space of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room (White House), Cabinet Room, the White House Situation Room, Situation Room, a ...

of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. The national security advisor serves as the principal advisor to the

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. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

on all

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

issues. The national security advisor participates in meetings of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

(NSC) and usually chairs meetings of the principals committee of the NSC with the secretary of state and

secretary of defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

(those meetings not attended by the president). The NSA also sits on the

Homeland Security Council The Homeland Security Council (HSC) is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States tasked with advising the president on matters relevant to Homeland Security. The current homeland security advisor is Stephen Mi ...

(HSC). The national security advisor is supported by NSC staff who produce classified research and briefings for the national security advisor to review and present, either to the NSC or the president. The national security advisor is appointed by the president and does not require

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. An appointment of a three- or four-star general to the role requires

Senate confirmation Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...

to maintain that rank in the new position. The acting National Security Advisor has been Marco Rubio since May 1, 2025.

Role

The influence and role of the national security advisor varies from administration to administration and depends not only on the qualities of the person appointed to the position, but also on the style and management philosophy of the incumbent president. The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 17-21. ideally, the national security advisor serves as an honest broker of policy options for the president in the field of national security, rather than as an advocate for his or her own policy agenda. The National Security Advisor and Staff: pp. 10-14. The national security advisor is a staff position in the

and does not have line or budget authority over either the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

or the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

, unlike the secretary of state and the secretary of defense, who are Senate-confirmed officials with statutory authority over their departments.See for the Secretary of State and for the Secretary of Defense. The national security advisor is able to offer daily advice (due to the proximity) to the president independently of the vested interests of the large bureaucracies and clientele of those departments. In times of crisis, the national security advisor is likely to operate from the White House Situation Room or the

Presidential Emergency Operations Center The Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC, ) is a bunker underneath the East Wing of the White House. It serves as a secure shelter and communications center for the president of the United States and others in case of an emergency. ...

(as on

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

), updating the president on the latest events in a crisis situation.

History

The National Security Council was created at the start of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

under the

National Security Act of 1947 The National Security Act of 1947 (Act of Congress, Pub.L.]80-253 61 United States Statutes at Large, Stat.]495 enacted July 26, 1947) was a law enacting major restructuring of the Federal government of the United States, United States governmen ...

to coordinate defense, foreign affairs, international economic policy, and intelligence; this was part of a large reorganization that saw the creation of the Department of Defense and the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. The Act did not create the position of the national security advisor per se, but it did create an executive secretary in charge of the staff. In 1949, the NSC became part of the Executive Office of the President. Robert Cutler was the first national security advisor in 1953, and held the job twice, both times during the

Eisenhower administration Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following his landslide victor ...

. The system has remained largely unchanged since then, particularly since President John Kennedy, with powerful national security advisors and strong staff but a lower importance given to formal NSC meetings. This continuity persists despite the tendency of each new president to replace the advisor and senior NSC staff. President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's national security advisor,

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

, enhanced the importance of the role, controlling the flow of information to the president and meeting with him multiple times per day. Kissinger also holds the distinction of serving as national security advisor and secretary of state at the same time from September 22, 1973, until November 3, 1975. He holds the record for longest term of service (2,478 days);

Michael Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born 24 December 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 24th U.S. national security advisor for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports tha ...

holds the record for shortest term, at just 24 days. Brent Scowcroft held the job in two non-consecutive administrations: the

Ford administration Gerald Ford's tenure as the 38th president of the United States began on August 9, 1974, upon the resignation of President Richard Nixon, and ended on January 20, 1977. Ford, a Republican from Michigan, had been appointed vice president on ...

and the

George H. W. Bush administration George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

List

Notes

References

External links

WhiteHouse.gov/NSC
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Security Advisor Assistants to the president of the United States United States National Security Council United States diplomacy