Sr. Obama NSC Aide Quits for Military
EmailWhen Barack Obama came to the Senate, Mark Lippert — a veteran Senate aide and newly-minted Naval Reserve officer — was the first foreign policy adviser he hired.
Now, Lippert — currently serving as Deputy National Security Adviser and Chief of Staff to the NSC — is becoming the first senior member of the President's foreign policy team to leave the Administration.
Lippert had even more influence than his lofty, dual title would suggest, a product of his long service and determined work ethic. While it's unusual for someone with his level of power and proximity to the President to leave the Administration so early (and there are some reports of clashes with NSA Jim Jones), Lippert associates say he is answering to a higher calling: returning to active military service as a Naval Intelligence Officer.
Lippert served 9 months in Iraq during the Presidential campaign and had discussed returning to active service with the President before the Inauguration.
Robert Gibbs says the President admires Lippert's decision and would welcome him back to WH service at any time.
UPDATE: Another US official suggests that Lippert didn't have full control over the timing of his decision to return to active military service, saying that Jones was indeed "unhappy" with Lippert and that Lippert had "overplayed his hand."
ALSO- a response from President Obama: "I will miss Mark and his counsel, his excellent work at the NSC, and his good cheer. At the same time, I was not surprised when he came and told me he had stepped forward for another mobilization, as Mark is passionate about the Navy. I support his decision. He is a close friend, and I admire and respect his devotion to our country and answering the call to active duty service. He will always have a senior foreign policy position in this White House, when he chooses to return to civilian life."
General Jones: "Mark has been vital to building a strong and revitalized National Security Council, ready to address the myriad challenges we face in the 21st century. I’m confident that Mark will continue to serve his nation in the United States Navy with the same commitment and sense of patriotism that we benefited from here in the White House. I congratulate him on this new post."
- George Stephanopoulos
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He is smart for leaving.I beleive he too sees what this President is up to.He has my respect for leaving this playboy.
Posted by: Joeray | October 1, 2009, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
Do you think adding “playboy” really adds to the comment? If nothing else, it completely destroys the credibility of your point.
Posted by: Frank | October 1, 2009, 1:03 pm 1:03 pm
Well, George, way to insinuate the NSC aide is quitting over some kind of conflict with the administration.
Of course, you have no facts to prove it, or quotes to that effect from Lippert, but we get the message.
I wish we could vote journalists out of office.
Posted by: Amy in Maine | October 1, 2009, 1:10 pm 1:10 pm
First one down, many to follow….
Posted by: Free in NH | October 1, 2009, 1:17 pm 1:17 pm
Will you post Gen Jones statement- or does that not go well with your views
Posted by: tia | October 1, 2009, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
The Guy is a military officer, he really didn’t quit the army entirely but answered to the President call of duty. He served his purposed and now he is returning to what he like best, the military. Idiotic, ignorant, dumb republican/ American conservatives can twist it all they want, makes no sense and different.
Posted by: Hannington Okello | October 1, 2009, 1:44 pm 1:44 pm
I think Mrs. Clinton, deep down, also wanting out, but she still wants to be President someday, so she is at a political gunpoint.
Posted by: young_voter | October 1, 2009, 2:15 pm 2:15 pm
He’s in the Navy Hannington. You know, on the water?
Your friend,
republican/American consertive
Posted by: fultzy | October 1, 2009, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
The Guy is a military officer, he really didn’t quit the army entirely but answered to the President call of duty. He served his purposed and now he is returning to what he like best, the military. Idiotic, ignorant, dumb republican/ American conservatives can twist it all they want, makes no sense and different.
Posted by: Hannington Okello
only a fool thinks this does not have something to with internal conflicts.
Posted by: Mike_C | October 1, 2009, 3:36 pm 3:36 pm
Another meme dies: George is so sad
President Obama’s longest-serving foreign policy adviser, Mark Lippert, has decided to return to active duty in the Navy SEALs, the White House announced today. Lippert, 36, is chief of staff to the National Security Council. He has presided over an intricate and occasionally thorny reconfiguration of the 200 person NSC staff to better reflect Obama’s national security priorities. He joined Obama’s Senate staff in 2005 and then served a tour as an intelligence officer for Navy Special Forces in Iraq. He has told friends that he has long felt the call of duty to return to the SEALs, but that he wanted to make sure the NSC staff was on a firm footing before he left the president’s service. A White House official said that Lippert had discussed his desire with Obama before he joined the administration. The same official said that Lippert hoped to return to the White House after his tour was up.
Replacing Lippert will be Denis McDonough, Obama’s second-longest-serving foreign policy aide and a constant voice in Obama’s ear. Ben Rhodes, Obama’s top foreign policy speechwriter, has been promoted to McDonough’s old job — Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications. Both Rhodes and McDonough are as responsible for the development of his foreign and national security policies as almost any other advisers; they’ve got an ear for Obama’s words and generally get the narrative that Obama is trying to write. (The “writing a narrative” idiom is something Obama likes to say in private when discussing foreign policy communication.)
Is there any palace intrigue to Lippert’s departure? Nothing significant. His relationship with his immediate boss, the National Security Adviser, Gen. James Jones, though not without its tensions, but was general friendly. Lippert developed a rapport with Jones during the presidential campaign, when Jones would use Lippert to pass thoughts and suggestions to candidate Obama. There has been some grumbling, largely unspecific, about the policy process that, under Jones’s guidance, Lippert put into place. Lippert is used to military discipline; many NSC and administration civilians are not.
Other critics of Lippert’s envied the open-door access to the president he possessed and blamed him for blocking deputy-level political appointees that he did not believe would be good fits for his boss. The extent to which Lippert influences Obama’s hiring decisions is overstated, but Lippert’s general level influence — particularly over Obama’s Iraq and Afghanistan policies and his advice to Obama about the way to deal with generals and the civillian bureaucracy at the Pentagon — was high.
Posted by: tst | October 1, 2009, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm
last time i checked, he is not deputy national security advisor and chief of staff, but deputy assistant to the president and chief of staff for nsc.
Posted by: test | October 1, 2009, 10:48 pm 10:48 pm
How long do you think it will take for Team Obama to come apart at the seams??
WHO IS REALLY RUNNING THE WHITE HOUSE — OTHER THAN THE TELEPROMPTER???
Posted by: PappyHappy | October 2, 2009, 5:54 am 5:54 am