By Stephen J. Hadley
Former National Security Advisor under President George W. Bush
Brent Scowcroft defined the role of the National Security Advisor (NSA). The only person to hold the job twice, Brent established the “Scowcroft Model” for all who followed him in the job: Be an “Honest Broker,” running a fair, transparent, and inclusive process for bringing issues to the President; maintain the confidence of your national security colleagues; keep a low public profile, operating largely off stage; and give your advice privately to the President. This approach best serves the President and enhances the prospects for a sound foreign policy.
Stephen J. Hadley
Stephen Hadley is a principal of RiceHadleyGates LLC, an international strategic consulting firm founded with Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates, and Anja Manuel. RiceHadleyGates assists senior executives of major corporations in overcoming the challenges of doing business successfully in major emerging markets like China, India, Brazil, Turkey, and Indonesia. Mr. Hadley is also board chairman of the United States Institute of Peace. He has co-chaired a series of senior bipartisan working groups on topics such as Arab-Israeli peace, US political strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, US/Turkey relations, and US policy on Iraq and Egypt.
Mr. Hadley served as the assistant to the president for national security affairs from 2005 to 2009. In that capacity, he was the principal White House foreign policy advisor to President George W. Bush, directed the National Security Council staff, and ran the interagency national security policy development and execution process. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Hadley was the assistant to the president and the deputy national security advisor, serving under National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. In addition to covering the full range of national security issues, Mr. Hadley had special responsibilities in several areas, including US/Russia political dialogue, the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, and strategic relations with India.
From 1993 to 2001, Mr. Hadley was both a partner in the Washington, DC, law firm of Shea and Gardner (now part of Goodwin Proctor) and a principal in The Scowcroft Group (a strategic consulting firm headed by former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft). In his law practice, Mr. Hadley was the administrative partner of the firm. He represented a range of corporate clients in transactional and international matters, including export controls, foreign investment in US national security companies, and the national security responsibilities of US information technology companies. In his consulting practice, Mr. Hadley represented US corporate clients investing and doing business overseas.
From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Hadley served as the assistant secretary of defense for international security policy under Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. Mr. Hadley represented the Defense Department on arms control and defense matters, including negotiations with the Soviet Union and then Russia, security issues involving NATO and Western Europe, and export and technology control matters. Prior to this position, Mr. Hadley alternated between government service and law practice with Shea & Gardner. He was counsel to the Tower Commission in 1987 as it investigated US arms sales to Iran and served on the National Security Council staff under President Ford from 1974 to 1977.
During his professional career, Mr. Hadley has served on a number of corporate and advisory boards. He is currently the chair of RAND’s Center for Middle East Public Policy Advisory Board, chair of the Human Freedom Advisory Council of the George W. Bush Institute, a member of Yale University’s Kissinger Papers Advisory Board, a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council, a member of the Board of Managers of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and a member of the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board. Other past positions have included service as a member of the Department of Defense Policy Board, member of the National Security Advisory Panel to the Director of Central Intelligence, and co-chair along with former Secretary of Defense William Perry of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel.
Mr. Hadley graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University in 1969. In 1972, he received his JD from Yale Law School, where he was note and comment editor of the Yale Law Journal. From 1972 to 1975, he served as an officer in the US Navy.
