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Politico is reporting that Gen. James Jones is resigning as National Security Advisor and that he will be replaced by his current deputy, Tom Donilon.
Donilon is a 1977 graduate of the Catholic University of America and has served in a variety of government positions before coming to the NSC. His brother Michael is a Counselor to Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife, Cathy Russell, is chief-of-staff to Dr. Jill Biden. Tom's brother Terry is the communications director for the Archdiocese of Boston.
In 1981, when I was a freshman, Tom taught a class at CUA on presidential election politics. It was a great class and it really taught us the nuts and bolts of how campaigns are waged and won (or lost). I still remember the trepidation I felt when writing my term paper on NCPAC, the National Conservative Political Action Committee, and its increasing influence. Professor Donilon was so smart, I really did not want to have him read my paper and think it was dumb. If memory serves, however, I got an "A."
Over the years, I would run into Donilon when he came into Kramerbooks to buy books - as I recall, he rarely left with fewer than half a dozen thick volumes under his arm.
Let's hope that as NSC chief, Donilon will get an "A" also - it is a tough course he must navigate but I can't think of anyone I would rather see advising the President than Donilon.
