In August 2020, more than 130 self-described Republican national security officials endorsed Joe Biden for president. They proclaimed:
We believe Joe Biden has the character, experience, and temperament to lead this nation. We believe he will restore the dignity of the presidency, bring Americans together, reassert America’s role as a global leader, and inspire our nation to live up to its ideals.
I found this gang underwhelming. More impressive was the gang of one consisting of Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Gates believed that Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” He said so in his 2014 book and stood by that assessment when Joe Biden became a candidate in the 2020 election.
The statement of the anti-Trump gang was laughably false when issued. Today, in the wake of the Afghanistan debacle, it remains false, and grotesquely so, but no one is laughing.
Is it worth it to publish the names of the signatories? Maybe not, but I’ll do so anyway. See if you (1) find it as unimpressive, generally speaking, as I did and (2) can spot a few rogues.
Adm. Steve Abbot
Fmr Dep Homeland Security Advisor
Kenneth Adelman
Fmr Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Amb. Peter Allgeier
Fmr Deputy US Trade Representative
Mary Catherine Andrews
Fmr Special Asst to the President
Richard Armitage
Fmr Deputy Secretary of State
Christopher Barton
Fmr Director, NSC Staff
Nancy Bearg
Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
John Bellinger
Fmr Legal Adviser, Dept of State
Adm. Kenneth Bernard
Fmr Special Asst to the President
Mark Bitterman
Fmr Special Asst to the Secretary of Defense
Amb. Robert Blackwill
Fmr Deputy National Security Advisor
Christian Bonat
Fmr Dep General Counsel, Defense Dept
Amb. Richard Boucher
Fmr Asst Secretary of State
Amb. Charles Bowers
Fmr US Ambassador
Bertram Braun
Fmr Director, NSC Staff
Amb. Peter Bridges
Fmr US Ambassador
Douglas Brook
Fmr Asst Secretary of the Army
Linton Brooks
Fmr Under Secretary of Energy
Greg Brower
Fmr Asst Director of the FBI
Kara Bue
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
Amb. Richard Burt
Fmr US Ambassador to Germany
Sally Canfield
Fmr Dep Chief of Staff, Dept of Homeland Security
Victor Cha
Fmr Director, NSC Staff
Amb. Jack Chow
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
Thomas Christensen
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
Eliot Cohen
Fmr Counselor of the Dept of State
Joseph Collins
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense
Heather Conley
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
Bret Coulson
Fmr Director, NSC Staff
Chester Crocker
Fmr Asst Secretary of State
Patrick Cronin
Fmr Asst Administrator, USAID
Amb. Sada Cumber
Fmr US Special Envoy to the OIC
Mike Donley
Fmr Secretary of the Air Force
Raymond DuBois
Fmr Acting Under Secretary of the Army
Lewis Dunn
Fmr Asst Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Amb. Eric Edelman
Fmr Under Secretary of Defense
Gary Edson
Fmr Deputy National Security Advisor
Richard Falkenrath
Fmr Dep Asst to the President
Amb. Julie Finley
Fmr US Ambassador
Carl Ford
Fmr Asst Secretary of State
Aaron Friedberg
Fmr Dep Asst to the Vice President
William Gaches
Fmr Director of Counterterrorism, NSA
Janice Gardner
Fmr Asst Secretary of the Treasury
John Gardner
Fmr Special Asst to the President
Amb. James Glassman
Fmr Under Secretary of State
Amb. Jon Glassman
Fmr Dep National Security Advisor to the Vice President
David Gordon
Fmr Director, State Dept, Policy Planning
Colleen Graffy
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
Michael Green
Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
Sen. Chuck Hagel
Fmr Secretary of Defense and US Senator
Christopher Hankin
Fmr Dep Asst Secretry of State
Mark Harvey
Fmr Special Asst to the President
Gen. Michael Hayden
Fmr Director of the CIA and the NSA
Amb. Carla Hills
Fmr US Trade Representative
Seth Hurwitz
Fmr Counsel, President’s Intelligence Oversight Board
Ash Jain
Fmr Member, State Dept Policy Planning
Les Janka
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense
Neil Joeck
Fmr Director, NSC Staff
Amb. Richard Kauzlarich
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
James Kelly
Fmr Asst Secretary of State
Donald Kerr
Fmr Princ Dep Director of National Intelligence
Rep. Jim Kolbe
Fmr Member of Congress
David Kramer
Fmr Asst Secretary of State
Stephen Krasner
Fmr Director, State Dept Policy Planning
Ken Krieg
Fmr Under Secretary of Defense
James Kunder
Fmr Deputy Administrator, USAID
Amb. Frank Lavin
Fmr Under Secretary of Commerce
Rep. Jim Leach
Fmr Member of Congress
Bruce Lemkin
Fmr Dep Under Secretary of the Air Force
Michael Leiter
Fmr Director, National Counterterrorism Ctr
Peter Lichtenbaum
Fmr Asst Secretary of Commerce
Amb. Winston Lord
Fmr US Ambassador
James Loy
Fmr Dep Secretary of Homeland Security
Peter Madigan
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary State
Amb. Steven Mann
Fmr Prin Dep Asst Secretary of State
Col. John McDonald
Fmr Dep Under Secretary of the Army
Bryan McGrath
Former US Navy Officer
Amb. Michael McKinley
Fmr US Ambassador
Christopher Mellon
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense
David Merkel
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
John Mitnick
Fmr General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security
Allen Moore
Fmr Under Secretary of Commerce
Alberto Mora
Fmr Gen Counsel, Dept of the Navy
Holly Morrow
Fmr Director, NSC Staff
Kenneth Mortensen
Fmr Assoc Dep Attorney General
Virginia Mulberger
Fmr Special Asst to the President
Alden Munson
Fmr Dep Director of National Intelligence
Amb. John Negroponte
Fmr Director of National Intelligence, and Fmr Deputy Secretary of State
Elizabeth Neumann
Fmr Asst Secretary of Homeland Security
Sean O’Keefe
Fmr Secretary of the Navy and NASA Administrator
Douglas Paal
Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
Larry Pfeiffer
Fmr Chief of Staff, CIA
William Piekney
Fmr Chief of Station, CIA
Daniel Price
Fmr Dep National Security Advisor
Sen. Larry Pressler
Fmr US Senator
Clyde Prestowitz
Fmr Counselor to the Secretary of Commerce
Victor Reis
Fmr Director, Defense Adv Research Projects Agency
Paul Rosenzweig
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Homeland Security
Nicholas Rostow
Fmr NSC Legal Adviser
Kori Schake
Fmr Prin Dep Director, State Dept Policy Planning
Wayne Schroeder
Fmr Dep Under Secretary of Defense
Amb. Gregory Schulte
Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
Robert Shanks
Fmr Dep Asst Attorney General
Amb. Thomas Shannon
Fmr Under Secretary of State
Rep. Christopher Shays
Fmr Member of Congress
John Simon
Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
Stephen Slick
Fmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
Amb. Mark Storella
Fmr US Ambassador
Timothy Stratford
Fmr Asst US Trade Representative
Amb. William Taft
Fmr Deputy Secretary of Defense
Shirin Tahir-Kheli
Fmr Special Asst to the President
Miles Taylor
Fmr Chief of Staff, Dept of Homeland Security
William Tobey
Fmr Dep Administrator, Nat Nuclear Security Admin
Jack Tomarchio
Fmr Princ Dep Under Secretary of Homeland Security
Olivia Troye
Fmr Special Advisor to the Vice President
Amb. Robert Tuttle
Fmr US Ambassador to the United Kingdom
John Veroneau
Fmr Dep US Trade Representative
Michael Vickers
Fmr Under Secretary of Defense
Ken Wainstein
Fmr Homeland Security Advisor
David Waller
Fmr Asst Secretary of Energy
Thomas Ward
Fmr Director of Threats, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
Sen. John Warner
Fmr US Senator
Matthew Waxman
Fmr Prin Dep Director, State Dept Policy Planning
William Webster
Fmr Director of the CIA and FBI
Wendell Willkie II
Fmr General Counsel, Dept of Commerce
John Woodworth
Fmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense
John Wolf
Fmr Asst Secretary of State
Dov Zakheim
Fmr Under Secretary of Defense
Philip Zelikow
Fmr Counselor of the Dept of State
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