James Mattis
Senior Counselor
Secretary of Defense (2017–2018)
Commander, US Central Command (2010–2013)
Commander, US Joint Forces Command (2007–2010)
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (2007–2009)
General Jim Mattis served as the 26th Secretary of Defense in 2017 and 2018. In this role, he worked to strengthen America’s alliances and reorient the defense budget to face the rising challenges posed by emerging technologies and near-peer adversaries.
During his 43 years in the Marine Corps, General Mattis commanded combat tours at the platoon, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, force, and theater levels. This included command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and of the 1st Marine Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. His time in the military culminated with three years as the Commander of US Central Command where he oversaw joint efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and helped shape US policy towards Iran.
Immediately prior to this, he served simultaneously as the Commander of US Joint Forces Command and the Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation. In these roles, he oversaw the transformation of capabilities for the US military and NATO allied forces respectively. His major projects included efforts to reshape US military doctrine to engage more effectively in irregular warfare and to reimagine the US military’s grand strategy.
Earlier in his military career, General Mattis served as the Executive Secretary of the Department of Defense during the tenures of Secretary William Perry and Secretary William Cohen and also as the Senior Military Assistant to Deputy Secretary of Defense Rudy deLeon.
He is currently the Davies Family Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University where he lectures and writes on domestic and international security policy. He is the author of a new book, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, an exploration of his career and vision of leadership, and the co-editor of Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military, a collection of writings on the state of civil-military relations in the United States.
General Mattis is also a member of the Board of Directors of General Dynamics and the Board of the Tri-Cities Food Bank in his hometown of Richland, Washington.