Signatures
Spencer Abraham
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy and U.S. Senator (R-MI)
Sen. Spencer Abraham served as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2001 to 2005. Previously, Abraham represented Michigan in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2001, and served on the Budget; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Judiciary, and Small Business & Entrepreneurship committees, as well as chairing the Manufacturing and Competitiveness and Immigration subcommittees. He served as Co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 1991 to 1993.
Prior to the NRCC and following a term as Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, Abraham served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Vice President Dan Quayle from 1990 to 1991. He is currently Chairman and CEO of the Abraham Group LLC and Co-chair of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future. He sits on the Board of Directors at Occidental Petroleum Corporation and is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Dr. David M. Abshire
Former Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Dr. David M. Abshire served as Ambassador to NATO from 1983 to 1987, where he earned a Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest Department of Defense civilian award. Abshire previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations from 1970 to 1973, headed the National Security Group in 1980, which included the State and Defense Departments, the U.S. Information Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency. He also served as Special Counselor to President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Abshire was one of the four co-conveners of the 2006 congressionally mandated Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group.
Abshire is currently President and CEO of the Center for the Study of the Presidency in Washington, D.C., and President of the Richard Lounsbery Foundation of New York. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is a Trustee of the George C. Marshall Foundation.
George F. Allen
Former U.S. Senator (R-VA) and Governor of Virginia
Sen. George F. Allen served as a Senator from Virginia from 2001 to 2007. During his time in the Senate, Allen was a member on the Commerce, Science and Transportation; Small Business & Entrepreneurship; and the Energy and Natural Resources Committees, as well as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on European Affairs. Allen also served from 1994 to 1998 as the 67th governor of Virginia.
Allen was the National Co-Chairman of Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign and is currently an advisor to John McCain’s presidential campaign on economic competitiveness and American energy security as well as nanotechnology. Allen is the President of George Allen Strategies, LLC, Chairman of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, and serves as the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar for the Young America’s Foundation.
Richard L. Armitage
Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
Richard L. Armitage is the 13th U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, serving from 2001 to 2005. He previously held several senior troubleshooting and negotiating positions in the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, serving as Foreign Policy Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia and Pacific affairs, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Armitage also filled key diplomatic positions as the Presidential Special Negotiator for the Philippines Military Bases Agreement, Special Mediator for water in the Middle East, and Special Emissary to Jordan’s King Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War.
Armitage is currently President of Armitage International and sits on several boards including ConocoPhillips, ManTech International Corporation, and Transcu Ltd., and he is a Trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Howard H. Baker, Jr.
Former U.S. Senator (R-TN), White House Chief of Staff, and U.S. Ambassador to Japan
Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr. served three terms as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985 and was Tennessee’s first popularly elected Republican senator. Baker rose to national prominence during the Watergate Hearings of 1973 to1974 as Vice Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee. He served as Minority Leader of the Senate from 1977 to 1981 and as Majority Leader from 1981 until he retired from the Senate at the end of his third term in 1985. He was a candidate for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination and served as President Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff from 1987 to 1988. For the next 13 years, he worked in several Tennessee law firms. In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush as U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
Baker returned to private practice in February 2005 as Senior Counsel at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. He is on the Board of Directors of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and is Senior Advisor at Citi.
James A. Baker, III
Former U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, White House Chief of Staff, Under Secretary of Commerce, and Senior Counselor to President George W. Bush
James A. Baker III served in senior government positions under three U.S. presidents. Baker served as the 61st U.S. Secretary of State from 1989 to 1992 under President George H.W. Bush and the 67th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. As Secretary of the Treasury, he was also Chairman of the President’s Economic Policy Council. From 1981 to 1985, he served as White House chief of staff to President Reagan. Baker’s record of public service began in 1975 as Under Secretary of Commerce to President Gerald Ford. It concluded with his service as White House Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to President H.W. Bush from 1992 to 1993.
Baker is presently a Senior Partner in the law firm of Baker Botts LLP. He is Honorary Chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and serves on the Board of Trustees at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Gen. Charles G. Boyd, USAF (Ret.)
President and CEO of Business Executives for National Security
Gen. Charles G. Boyd, USAF (Ret.), is former Deputy Commander in Chief of U.S. forces in Europe. Boyd also served as Commander of Strategic Air Command’s 8th Air Force, Director of Plans at Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C., and Commander of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
Boyd is currently President and CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). Before joining BENS, he served as Senior Vice President and Washington Program Director of the Council on Foreign Relations. Boyd is on the Board of Directors of the Nixon Center, DRS Technologies, Inc., Forterra Systems, Inc., and In-Q-Tel. He is a member of the USAF Air University Board of Visitors, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Air University Foundation, and serves on the Transformation Advisory Group for U.S. Joint Forces Command as well as the U.S. European Command senior advisory group.
Lt. Frank C. Carlucci, USN (Ret.)
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense
Frank C. Carlucci was U.S. Secretary of Defense from November 1987 to January 1989, following his service as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Both positions were held under President Ronald Reagan. Previously, Carlucci served as Deputy Secretary of Defense, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.
Carlucci has been a Managing Director of the Carlyle Group since 1989, Chairman since 1993, and Chairman Emeritus since 2003. He is also Chairman Emeritus of Nortel Networks, the US-Taiwan Business Council, and Neurogen Corporation. Carlucci currently sits on the Board of Directors of Population Services International and serves as Counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
William S. Cohen
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, U.S. Senator and Representative (R-ME)
William S. Cohen served as U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 2001. Cohen spent more than 30 years in public service that began when he was first elected as a City Councilor in Bangor, Maine, in 1969. From 1973 to 1979, he served as the Representative for Maine’s 2nd District. In 1979, Cohen began nearly two decades serving as a U.S. Senator until 1997 when he was sworn in as the nation’s 20th Secretary of Defense.
Cohen currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Cohen Group. He is a member of the Board of Directors of CBS Corporation, a Trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a World Affairs Analyst for CNN.
Thomas J. Donohue
President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Thomas J. Donohue is President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation, which represents 3 million businesses of every size, sector, and region and American Chambers of Commerce abroad. Since assuming his position in 1997, Donohue has built the Chamber into a lobbying and political force with expanded influence across the globe. Under his leadership, the organization has worked to support, fund, and elect pro-business candidates in congressional races and has created the Institute for Legal Reform and Institute for 21st Century Energy. Prior to his current position, Donohue served for 13 years as President and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, the national organization of the trucking industry.
Donohue is a member of the President’s Council on the 21st CenturyWorkforce and the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
Kenneth M. Duberstein
Former White House Chief of Staff
Kenneth M. Duberstein served as White House Chief of Staff and Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs under President Ronald Reagan. Before joining the Reagan administration, Duberstein was Vice President and Director of Business-Government Relations for the Committee for Economic Development and Vice President of Timmons & Company Inc.
Duberstein is currently Chairman and CEO of the Duberstein Group, Inc., an independent strategic planning and consulting company. He serves on several boards, including the Council on Foreign Relations, The Boeing Company, and ConocoPhillips.
Donald L. Evans
Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Donald L. Evans served as the 34th U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 2001 to 2005. Previously, Evans served as CEO of The Financial Services Forum from 2005 to 2007. Evans, a former businessman in the oil and gas industry, is also former CEO of Tom Brown, Inc., a large independent energy company. He was appointed in 1995 to the board of regents of the University of Texas, where he was later elected Chairman and served two consecutive terms.
Evans is currently Non-Executive Chairman of Energy Future Holdings Corporation and is Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.
J. Bennett Johnston
Former U.S. Senator (D-LA)
Sen. J. Bennett Johnston represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 1997. In his more than two decades in the Senate, Johnston served as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and served on the Budget Committee. Johnston was a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and Chairman and Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. Johnston also served on the Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Interior, Agriculture, and Defense Subcommittees.
Johnston is currently the Principal at Johnston & Associates, LLC, a strategic public and legislative affairs firm based in Washington, D.C.
Gen. James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.)
President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy and former Commandant of the Marine Corps and Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Gen. James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.), is currently President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. In this capacity, he executes the Institute’s strategic mission to unify policymakers behind a comprehensive strategy for an affordable and reliable energy future. Jones previously served as the 32nd Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps from July 1999 to January 2003. After relinquishing command, he assumed the positions of Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of the United States European Command, positions he held until December 2006. During this final assignment, he encouraged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to regard global energy as a security issue and advocated that the alliance consider the defense of critical infrastructures as a 21st century collective security mission.
At the request of the U.S. Congress, Jones recently chaired the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq. He also serves on several boards representing both the business and national security sectors of the United States.
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
Former National Security Advisor and U.S. Secretary of State
Dr. Henry A. Kissinger served as National Security Advisor in the Nixon administration and later as the 56th U.S. Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977. He continued his position as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, a role which he first assumed in 1969, until 1975 under Nixon’s successor, President Gerald Ford. In 1983, Kissinger was appointed by President Reagan to chair the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America.
Kissinger currently is Founder and Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm. He has published numerous articles on U.S. foreign policy, international affairs, and diplomatic history. His column, syndicated by Tribune Media Services International, appears in leading newspapers in the United States and abroad. Kissinger has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Medal of Liberty.
Robert C. McFarlane
Former National Security Advisor
Robert C. McFarlane served as National Security Advisor under President Reagan from 1983 to 1985. McFarlane’s nine years in the White House included a year as a White House Fellow and subsequently four years as Military Assistant to Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft. In 1976, he served as President Ford’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs. He later served as Counselor to the Department of State. Following his retirement from government, McFarlane founded his own energy development company, Global Energy Investors LLC.
Presently, McFarlane is chairman and CEO of McFarlane Associates Inc., a consulting company specializing in energy matters. He also serves as an Energy and National Security Advisor for the John McCain 2008 presidential campaign. He is on the board of Vadium Technology, Inc., and Aegis Defense Services. McFarlane serves on the advisory boards of the Partnership for a Secure America, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the Center for U.S. Global Engagement.
Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty, III
President of McLarty Associates, Inc., Chairman and CEO of McLarty International, LLC, and former Counselor to President Clinton, Special Envoy for the Americas, and White House Chief of Staff
Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty III, a prominent Arkansas business and political leader, is a former White House Chief of Staff and has served in various roles advising Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter. McLarty worked with President Carter as a member of the Democratic National Committee, was appointed by President Bush to the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Environment Quality, and served President Clinton as Chief of Staff, Counselor to the President, and Special Envoy for the Americas.
McLarty is currently President of McLarty Associates, Inc., and Chairman and CEO of McLarty International, LLC. He sits on the boards of directors of Union Pacific Railroad, the Acxiom Corporation, the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, the Council of the Americas, and the Inter-American Dialogue. McLarty is also a member of the advisory board of Leeds Equity Partners and Senior Advisor with the Carlyle Group.
Sam Nunn
Co-Chairman and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and former U.S. Senator (D-GA)
Sen. Sam Nunn was a Senator from Georgia for 24 years from 1972 to 1996 and is retired from the law firm of King & Spalding LLP. During his tenure in the Senate, Nunn served as Chairman of the Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and as member of the Intelligence and Small Business Committees.
Nunn is currently Co-Chairman and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and Distinguished Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech. He is Chairman of the Board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and is on the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation, Dell Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, and the General Electric Company.
Dr. William J. Perry
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense
Dr. William J. Perry served as the 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1997. His career in the U.S. Department of Defense spanned eight years — serving as Under Secretary for Research and Engineering from 1977 to 1981, Deputy Secretary from 1993 to 1994, and then as Secretary. Prior to joining the Clinton administration, Perry was Director of the Electronic Defense Laboratories of Sylvania/GTE in California and president of ESL, Inc., an electronics firm that he helped found.
Perry is currently the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor at Stanford University, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Board Chairman of the Center for a New American Security.
Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.)
Former U.S. Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and National Security Advisor
Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), served as U.S. Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. Before becoming Secretary of State, Powell served as a key aide to the Secretary of Defense and as the National Security Advisor to President Reagan. He served for 35 years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of four-star general and serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is the recipient of numerous U.S. military awards as well as two Presidential Medals of Freedom.
Powell is currently a Strategic Limited Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He serves on the board of Revolution Health Care, and is founder of the Colin Powell Policy Center at the City College of New York.
Charles S. Robb
Former U.S. Senator (D-VA) and Governor of Virginia
Sen. Charles S. Robb served as governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986 and in the Senate from 1988 to 2001. During his tenure in the Senate, Robb became the only member to serve simultaneously on all three national security committees (Armed Services, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations). In 2001, he joined the faculty of George Mason University as a Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy, co-chaired the President’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission from 2004 to 2005, and was a member of the Iraq Study Group in 2006.
Robb currently serves on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board, and the FBI Director’s Advisory Board. He is Vice Chairman of the MITRE Corporation.
Joseph E. Robert, Jr.
Founder, Chairman, and CEO of J.E. Robert Companies
Joseph E. Robert Jr. is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of J.E. Robert Companies, one of the world’s largest private commercial real estate investment and asset management firms. Robert founded and continues to serve as Chairman of Fight For Children, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based philanthropic youth organization.
He sits on several boards including the international advisory board of EuroHypo AG, the Institute for International Economics, the Atlantic Council of the United States, Lehman Brothers private equity advisory board, and the World Economic Forum. Robert is Chairman of the Board of Business Executives for National Security— a nationwide, nonpartisan public interest group.
Dr. James R. Schlesinger
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy, U.S. Secretary of Defense, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Dr. James R. Schlesinger served as the first U.S. Secretary of Energy and as the 12th U.S. Secretary of Defense. Prior to this appointment, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and was selected by President Nixon to serve as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Schlesinger began his government service in 1969 as Assistant Director of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget (later the Office of Management and Budget), where he also served as Acting Deputy Director.
Currently, Schlesinger is Chairman of the Board of Trustees at MITRE Corporation and Senior Advisor at the investment banking firm of Lehman Brothers. He is also a Consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, member of the Defense Policy Board, and a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret.)
Former National Security Advisor
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret.), served as National Security Advisor to former Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. Scowcroft’s extraordinary 29-year military career began with graduation from West Point and concluded at the rank of Lieutenant General following his service as Deputy National Security Advisor.
A former Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., Scowcroft is President and Founder of The Scowcroft Group, an international business consulting firm. He currently serves as Chairman on George W. Bush’s President’s Advisory Committee on Arms Control, the Commission on Strategic Forces, and the President’s Special Review Board.
Dr. George P. Shultz
Former U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of Labor, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Secretary of Labor
Dr. George P. Shultz served as the 60th U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to1989. From 1981 until his appointment as Secretary of State, Shultz was Chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s economic policy advisory board. Previously, Shultz served as Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, Head of the Office of Management and Budget in 1970, and U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970. Shultz taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Stanford University, as well as at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he later became Dean.
Shultz is currently the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He sits on the Board of Directors of the American Council for Capital Formation, is an Advisor for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Director Emeritus at Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Adm. James D. Watkins, USN (Ret.)
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy and Chief of Naval Operations
Adm. James D. Watkins, USN (Ret.), served as the sixth U.S. Secretary of Energy under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993. A former Chief of Naval Operations under President Ronald Reagan, Watkins also served as Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic (AIDS), President of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions and the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE), and Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
Watkins currently serves as Co-Chair of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, a collaborative effort of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and Pew Oceans Commission for ocean policy reform.
R. James Woolsey
Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
R. James Woolsey is a former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1993 to 1995, an Ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe from 1989 to 1991, and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services from 1970 to 1973. He was also appointed by the President Reagan as Delegate-at-Large to the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks from 1983 to 1986. As an Officer in the U.S. Army, Woolsey was an Advisor on the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) from 1969 to 1970.
Woolsey joined Goodwin Procter’s business law department in 2008 as Counsel, focusing on alternative energy and security related issues. Previously, Woolsey was Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton.