Stephen Edward Biegun (born March 30, 1963) is an American businessman and diplomat who served as the United States deputy secretary of state from December 2019 to January 2021 and United States Special Representative for North Korea from August 2018 to January 2021, vice president of international governmental affairs for the Ford Motor Company, staffer on the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

, as well as national security adviser to Senator Bill Frist.

Early life and education

Biegun was born in Detroit, Michigan. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian and political science from the University of Michigan in 1984.

Career

He was the in-country director for the International Republican Institute in Moscow, Russia, from 1992 to 1994. He was a member of the board of the U.S. Russia Foundation, the Moscow School of Political Studies, the U.S.–Russia Business Council, the National Bureau of Asian Research, the

US-ASEAN Business Council The US-ASEAN Business Council (also known as "US-ABC" or "USABC") is an advocacy group that aims to foster economic growth and trade ties between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s ten member countries. ...

, and

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

. Biegun has held a number of offices within the federal government, including executive secretary of the

, reporting to national security adviser

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...

under President George W. Bush. He was a foreign policy adviser to

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

during John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. On March 1, 2018, it was reported that Biegun was a top candidate to replace Donald Trump's national security adviser H. R. McMaster. On March 22, it was announced that McMaster would instead be succeeded by John Bolton. On August 23, 2018, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appointed Biegun as the U.S. special representative for North Korea, directing policy in regard to North Korea on behalf of the Trump administration. On August 7, 2019, '' The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Biegun was a top candidate to replace

Jon Huntsman Jr. Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. (born March 26, 1960) is an American businessman, diplomat and politician who served as the 16th Governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Ambassador of the United States to ...

as United States ambassador to Russia. After John Sullivan was instead nominated, Biegun was nominated to replace him as deputy secretary of state on October 31, 2019. His nomination was confirmed by a 90–3 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 19, 2019. He was sworn in two days later.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Biegun, Stephen E. 1963 births 21st-century American diplomats Ford executives George W. Bush administration personnel Living people Trump administration personnel United States Deputy Secretaries of State University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni