James N. Mattis

James N. Mattis 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. In 2017-18 he served as the 26th Secretary of Defense. During his 43 years in the Marine Corps, Mattis commanded combat tours at the platoon, battalion, regiment, brigade, division, force, and theater levels, including 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, 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.