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Jake Sullivan
| Jake Sullivan | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | Biden administration |
| Role: | National security advisor designate |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Expertise: | Foreign policy |
| Affiliation: | Democratic |
| Education: | • Yale University • Oxford University • Yale University Law School[1] |
Jake Sullivan was the national security advisor designate for the Biden administration from 2021 to 2025.[2]
He worked as a senior policy advisor for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, responsible for crafting both foreign and domestic policy for Clinton. Sullivan also served with Clinton as a top aide in the State Department and a national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden during the Obama administration.[2]
Sullivan, a Yale Law graduate and Rhodes scholar, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
Career
Early career
After receiving an undergraduate degree in political science from Yale in 1998, Sullivan attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and Yale Law School. He worked as an associate with Minneapolis-based law firm Faegre & Benson and taught at the University of St. Thomas Law School. He also clerked for Guido Calabresi of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.[3]
Before joining Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, Sullivan also worked in the office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) as a senior policy advisor and chief counsel.[4][5] His early campaign experience included interning for Rep. Martin Sabo (D-Minn.), working on Paul Wellstone's (D-Minn.) 2002 U.S. Senate campaign, and informally helping Klobuchar's 2006 U.S. Senate campaign.[6]
2008 presidential campaigns
In 2008, Sullivan joined Clinton's presidential campaign as her deputy policy director.[7][8] Sullivan was also an advisor on issues of foreign policy and national security, and he helped to shape her early message that "her experience includes contributions on foreign policy issues, such as Northern Ireland and Kosovo, during her husband's administration."[9]
After Clinton's unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination, Sullivan joined then-Sen. Barack Obama's (D) campaign helping Obama prepare for debates, a role he had also held with the Clinton campaign.[4][10][11]
State Department staff
After Obama's election, Sullivan followed Clinton to the State Department in 2009. He began his work as deputy chief of staff and later as director of policy planning.[7][8]
Time magazine characterized Sullivan's role in the State Department in 2013: "Sullivan was the reliable point of contact between the White House and Clinton’s 7th floor even when other White House and State staffers were at each others’ throats."[12] Foreign Policy similarly commented that "it was only when Clinton selected as her key confidante Jake Sullivan — a brilliant young analyst but the ultimate 'gray man' — that she seemed to operate more strategically."[13] One State Department colleague told MinnPost, "If it’s important, we just go to Jake."[14]
At a speech for Foreign Policy in 2012, Clinton praised Sullivan, saying,[15]
| “ | When Jake Sullivan first came to work for me, I told my husband about this incredibly bright rising star – Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law School – and my husband said, 'Well, if he ever learns to play the saxophone, watch out.' Now we travel all over the world together and people say how excited they are to meet a potential future president of the United States, and of course they mean Jake.[16] | ” |
Iran nuclear deal
While at the State Department, Sullivan aided in establishing the Iran nuclear agreement. According to a profile in The New York Times,[11]
| “ |
Mr. Sullivan would have labored in relative obscurity, if not for his role in secret negotiations with Iran. In July 2012, he quietly dropped off a trip in Paris when Secretary Clinton sent him to Oman to meet Iranian officials to explore whether there was scope for a nuclear deal. ... Those first talks went nowhere, but in later meetings, Mr. Sullivan, joined by a more senior but similarly soft-spoken diplomat, William J. Burns, laid the groundwork for the interim nuclear deal that Iran signed with the West in Geneva." [16] |
” |
Departure
After Clinton's departure from the State Department in 2013, Sullivan served as a national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden (D).[8] In August 2014, Sullivan left the White House to teach law as a distinguished visiting lecturer at Yale Law School.[11][5]
Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign
In April 2015, Clinton announced that Sullivan would join her presidential campaign as a senior policy advisor. Clinton herself described Sullivan as a "coolheaded, clear-eyed analyst of the problems we faced with our national security."[11]
Politico pointed out that Sullivan's skepticism on Iran may have helped to show that Clinton would have taken a "harder line on the issue than the Obama administration has embraced."[17] Sullivan categorized Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) intention to normalize relations with Iran as "dangerous" in a campaign video.[18] In May 2016, Sullivan spoke further about Iran, telling a crowd at the Asia Society Policy Institute that "a key to solving the region's complex problems was unraveling the bitter rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a relationship whose recent deterioration has had profound implications throughout the Middle East."[19]
In a March 2016 interview, Sullivan stated that the biggest campaign challenge involved connecting with voters on issues of substance: "The biggest challenge I see on the campaign — and of course, I’m biased as the policy guy — is the difficulty of pushing through the cable and social media chatter to try to engage with the American people in a serious conversation about real issues that impact their lives and the future of this country."[6]
Policy principles
In an interview with Yale Daily News in March 2016, Sullivan outlined the principles behind his policy decisions:[6]
| “ | In the foreign policy space, my core principle is that the fundamental project of American foreign policy over the next two decades is to secure and sustain American global leadership, because I deeply believe that a world America leads is a world where everybody ends up better off. Certainly where U.S. interests and values are protected, but where the interests and values of our friends and of people across the world are also protected. For me, that’s the cornerstone — what’s it going to take to ensure that the United States maintains a leadership position in global affairs, even as the world changes around us? On the domestic side, I think the fundamental question — the touchstone of everything — is whether a policy is going to contribute to strengthening the middle class or to hollowing out the middle class. That is the question that I ask about any domestic policy issue.[16] | ” |
| More on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign staff |
|---|
| Staff overview |
| • Clinton staff overview |
Management and strategy |
| • Robby Mook, Campaign manager • Joel Benenson, Chief strategist and pollster • Amanda Renteria, Political director • John Podesta, Campaign chairman • Huma Abedin, Vice chair |
Communications |
| • Jennifer Palmieri, Communications director • Jim Margolis, Media advisor |
Policy and outreach |
| • Jake Sullivan, Senior policy advisor • Marlon Marshall, Director of state campaigns and political engagement • Maya Harris, Senior policy advisor • LaDavia Drane, Congressional liaison |
Sullivan has also said that a large part of policy work was about personal relationships. He told MinnPost in February 2016, "Being fundamentally decent and honest and willing to put others before yourself — that’s necessary for being an effective policymaker. In the real world, answers may not be clear cut, there will be messy choices, and you’re not going to be able to construct a policy response in a neat and tidy way. Being able to listen to other people, even as you stay true to your principles, that’s how you actually succeed."[14]
Debate preparation
Sullivan was one of Clinton's top advisors for debate preparation throughout the general election. According to CNN, Sullivan led the preparations for Clinton by "focusing more on strategy and policy than actually doing mock debates."[20]
Post-Obama administration career
After serving in the Obama administration, Sullivan became a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Sullivan founded the national security advocacy organization National Security Action and served on its advisory board. He also taught at Yale Law School, Dartmouth College, and the University of New Hampshire.[2]
Media
See also
- Joe Biden
- Joe Biden presidential transition
- Hillary Clinton
- Barack Obama
- Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
- Hillary Clinton presidential campaign key staff and advisors, 2016
- U.S. State Department
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ P2016.org, "Hillary for America," January 29, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Biden-Harris Transition, "President-Elect Biden Announces Key Members of Foreign Policy and National Security Team," November 23, 2020
- ↑ Belfer Center, "Jake Sullivan," accessed November 23, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 U.S. Department of State, "Jake Sullivan," accessed June 24, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedFaculty - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Yale Daily News, "Jake Sullivan, On Imperfect Politics," March 4, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Politico, "Hillary Clinton's secret Iran man," April 3, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The White House, "Vice President Biden Announces Jake Sullivan as New National Security Advisor," February 26, 2013
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Revelers greet Clinton with warm Pittsburgh reception," March 16, 2008
- ↑ Minnesota Post, "Jake Sullivan: Minneapolis native among those to hatch Iranian nuclear deal," November 27, 2013
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 New York Times, "Biden advisor Leaving Washington, but It May Not Be for Long," June 20, 2014
- ↑ Time, "White House Poaches State Staffers," March 5, 2013
- ↑ Foreign Policy, "Debating Hillary," June 20, 2012
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 MinnPost, "'We just go to Jake': How a Southwest High grad became Hillary Clinton’s go-to guy," February 9, 2016
- ↑ Foreign Policy, "Hillary Clinton’s Remarks at FP’s ‘Transformational Trends’ Forum," November 30, 2012
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Politico, "Hillary Clinton names top 3 wonks for campaign," April 14, 2015
- ↑ YouTube, "Why Bernie Sanders is wrong on ISIS and Iran," January 21, 2016
- ↑ Asia Society, "Clinton Policy Advisor: Trump a 'Dangerous Proposition' as Commander in Chief," May 16, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Ahead of debate, Clinton mum on Trump implosion -- for now," October 8, 2016
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