James H. Anderson is an American government official and academic who served as acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Donald Trump Administration.

Early life and education

Anderson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

. He then earned a Master of Arts in law and a PhD in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Career

Anderson began his career as a United States Marine Corps intelligence officer. In the Bush Administration, he served in the Office of Secretary of Defense, notably as the Director of Middle East Policy in International Security Affairs, among other policy positions from 2001 to 2009. He also worked as a professor at the Marine Corps University, National Defense University, George Washington University, the University of Phoenix, and

Lasell University Lasell University (LU) is a private university in Auburndale, Massachusetts. Lasell offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional fields of study. History Lasell was founded in 1851 as the Auburndal ...

. From 2009 to 2012, he worked as a Professor of international security studies at the

George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies is a bi-national United States Department of Defense and Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany) security and defense studies institute. When the Marshall Center was founded in 1993, its mi ...

. From 2012 to 2015, he served as dean of academics and deputy director of the Marine Corps War College. From 2015 until his appointment, Anderson was the vice president for academic affairs at the Marine Corps University. In 2018, Anderson was nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities. On August 28, 2018, the U.S. Senate confirmed him by Voice Vote. On March 1, 2020, Anderson was selected to serve as acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy after the resignation of

John Rood John Charles Rood (born 1968) is an American national security adviser and former government official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from January 2018 to February 2020. Before that, he was Senior Vice President of Lockhe ...

. On June 6, the U.S. Senate confirmed him as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy by a vote of 78–17. Anderson resigned in November 2020. He is the recipient of several professional awards, to include ''The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service'' (Nov 2020).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, James Living people United States Department of Defense officials Trump administration personnel Amherst College alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni United States Marine Corps officers National Defense University faculty George Washington University Law School faculty University of Phoenix faculty People from Virginia Year of birth missing (living people)