John Robert Bolton is the current US National Security Advisor in the Trump Administration. He was a former interim US Ambassador to the UN.
Bolton has been termed a ‘war hawk.’ He has called repeatedly for ending of the Iran Deal and has supported regime changes in North Korea and Iran. He supported the Iraq War and continues to support it. He has also called for military action and regime changes in Libya and Syria.
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Early Life and Education
John was born on 20th November, 1948, to fireman Edward Jackson Bolton and housewife Virginia Clara, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was raised in the working-class area of Yale Heights. He attended Owings Mills, Maryland’s McDonogh School on a scholarship and graduated in 1966. In 1964, he ran the ‘Students For Goldwater’ campaign for the school.
Bolton then went to Yale University and graduated in 1970 with a BA degree. In 1971, he enrolled at Yale Law School and got his Juris Doctor in 1974. John was a Yale Political Union member. Clarence Thomas was his classmate at the law school. In 1972, John was hired as Vice President Spiro Agnew’s summer intern.
One of the ways to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War was to enlist in a Reserve unit or a Guard. Hence before his draft was called out and to avoid service in the War, John joined the Maryland Army National Guard in 1970. He underwent training from July to Nov 1970 and served in the Guard for 4 years. He then served in the US Army Reserve till his enlistment ended after 2 years.
Career
Bolton was an associate at Covington & Burling’s Washington office from 1974 to 81 and from 1983 to 85. From 1993 to 99, he was partner in Lerner, Reed, Bolton & McManus law firm.
He worked in many posts in the Justice Department, State Department, and the United States Agency for International Development in the Reagan and HW Bush presidencies. He was USAID General Counsel from 1981 to 82; USAID’s assistant administrator for program and policy coordination from 1982 to 83, (1982–1983); Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legislative Affairs from 1985 to 88; the Civil Division’s Assistant Attorney General from 1988 to 89; and the assistant secretary for the Department of State’s International Organization Affairs at from 1989 to 93.
From 1997 to 2001, before Bolton joined the second Bush administration, he was senior VP for public policy research at the conservative think tank ‘American Enterprise Institute.’
From 2001 to 2005 Bolton worked as the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. He was appointed the United States Ambassador to the UN as President Bush’s recess appointee in August 2005. He resigned in December 2006 as it was unlikely that the newly-elected Senate with a Democratic Party majority would confirm him.
John worked as an author for conservative opinion American magazine ‘The Weekly Standard’ from 1997 to 2000 and from 2014-16. From 2008 to 2018, he was counsel at Kirkland & Ellis’ Washington office. Since 2006, he has been contributor for Fox News. He was Mitt Romney’s foreign policy advisor during his presidential campaign in 2012. He has also worked at Freedom Capital Investment Management as a senior advisor.
Bolton has been heading the John Bolton Super PAC and the John Bolton PAC since 1998. After he was made the National Security Advisor, the political activities of the two PACs were temporarily suspended. As of March 31, 2018, the Super PAC has over $2.5 million in the balance as unspent donations.
John is involved in several special interest groups and policy institutes like the National Rifle Association, Project for the New American Century, Institute of East-West Dynamics, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf, Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), the Gatestone Institute, and the Council for National Policy, etc.
Personal life
- John was married to Christine Bolton from 1972 to 1983. He later married Gretchen Smith Bolton works with AXA Advisors as a financial planner. The couple has a daughter and the family lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
- The political views of Republican Bolton have been termed as conservative, American nationalist, and neo-conservative. The last description has been rejected by John. He instead refers to himself as being ‘pro-American.’
- John is a Lutheran.
John R. Bolton – Salary and Net Worth
As the National Security Advisor, Bolton will receive an annual salary of $174,500. His estimated net worth is estimated to be around $3 million.
