Antony John Blinken born April 16, is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from to He previously served as deputy national security advisor from to and deputy secretary of state from to under President Barack Obama. During the Clinton administration , Blinken served in the State Department and in senior positions on the National Security Council from to He was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from to He advocated for the invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from to From to , Blinken served as deputy assistant to the president and national security advisor to the vice president.
During his tenure in the Obama administration , he helped craft U. Blinken returned to government first as a foreign policy advisor for Biden's presidential campaign , then as Biden's pick for secretary of state, a position the Senate confirmed him for on January 26, Blinken , a co-founder of the private equity firm Warburg Pincus who later served as the U. In his confirmation hearing, Blinken recalled the story of his stepfather, Pisar, who had been the only Holocaust survivor of the children in his school in Poland.
Pisar found refuge in a U. From to , Blinken attended Harvard College , where he majored in social studies. He co-edited Harvard's daily student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson , [ 5 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] and wrote a number of articles on current affairs. In his monograph Ally versus Ally: America, Europe, and the Siberian Pipeline Crisis , Blinken argued that exerting diplomatic pressure on the Soviet Union during the Siberian pipeline crisis was less significant for American interests than maintaining strong relations between the United States and Europe.
Blinken has held senior foreign policy positions in two administrations over two decades. In , Blinken was appointed staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee , a position he served in until In the years following the U. The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected at home, as well as in Iraq, where the prime minister opposed the partition plan. He was also a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In , Blinken worked for Joe Biden's presidential campaign , [ 5 ] and was a member of the Obama—Biden presidential transition team.
In this position he helped craft U. On November 7, , President Obama announced that he would nominate Blinken for the deputy secretary post, replacing the retiring William J.
