Peter Warren Rodman (November 24, 1943 – August 2, 2008) was an American attorney, government official, author, and national security adviser.

Early life and education

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, he was educated at The Roxbury Latin School. He earned an A.B from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, a B.A. and M.A. from

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

Career

Rodman began his career in government as a staff member 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 n ...

, working from 1969 to 1977 and serving as an assistant to

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

. From 1977 to 1983, he was a Fellow at the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

. From 1984 to 1986, Rodman served as Director of Policy Planning under

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. He served as Reagan's

Deputy National Security Advisor The United States Deputy National Security Advisor is a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and the United States National Security Council, serving under the President's National Security Advisor (United States), N ...

from 1986 to 1987. From 1987 to 1990, he served as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and National Security Council Counselor. He was one of the signers of the January 26, 1998

Project for the New American Century The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative *"The PNAC's 33 leaders were highly connected with the American state – displaying 115 such connections: 27 with the Department of Defense, 13 with State, 12 with the Whit ...

sent to the

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. He worked extensively with

, helping him write his

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

. He was a member of the board of trustees of

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

, Vice President and member of the board of directors of the World Affairs Council and a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute of SAIS. From 1991 to 1999, Rodman was a senior editor at ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

,'' a conservative magazine. He also served as the Director of National Security Programs at the Center for the National Interest, a conservative think-tank founded by

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. Rodman returned to government service as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the George W. Bush administration. In March 2007, he left his position as United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs to become a Senior Fellow at

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

. He was the author of ''More Precious Than Peace'', a book on the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

in the

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

in which he praises the Reagan administration for warding off communism in Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia.

Personal life

Rodman and his wife, Veronique, had two children. Veronique was named a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors by

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, serving from 2003 to 2004. Rodman died in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, on August 2, 2008, from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. He was 64.

Bibliography

* ''Development administration: Obstacles, theories and implications for planning (IIEP occasional papers)'' (1968) * ''More Precious Than Peace: Fighting and Winning the Cold War in the Third World'' (1994) * ''Nato's role in a new European security order (The future of NATO GPIS working paper)'' (1995) * ''Arms Control and the U.S.-Russian Relationship'' (1996
1
* ''America adrift: A strategic assessment'' (1996) * ''Broken triangle: China, Russia, and America after 25 years'' (1997) * ''Between friendship and rivalry: China and America in the 21st century'' (1998) * editor of ''NATO at FIFTY: Perspectives on the Future of the Transatlantic Alliance'' (1999) * ''Drifting apart?: Trends in U.S.-European relations'' (1999) * ''Uneasy giant: The challenges to American predominance'' (2000) * ''Presidential Command: Power, Leadership, and the Making of Foreign Policy from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush'' (2009)

References

External links

A couple of old articles
from the

Middle East Quarterly The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative 501(c)(3) think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who now serves as its chairman. Gregg Roman serves as director of the forum. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 19 ...

.
Speaker biography
at The Center for the Study of the Presidency.
Tributes and Eulogies

More Tributes and Eulogies

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodman, Peter W. 1943 births 2008 deaths American print editors Deaths from leukemia in Maryland Directors of policy planning Harvard Law School alumni Nixon administration personnel Reagan administration personnel United States Department of Defense officials George W. Bush administration personnel Harvard College alumni Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Roxbury Latin School alumni United States Assistant Secretaries of Defense National Review people United States deputy national security advisors