Rand Beers

Rand Beers was confirmed on June 19 2009 as Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD).

According to his DHS bio, "Before his appointment, he was the co-leader of the Department of Homeland Security Transition Team for incoming Obama Administration. Prior to the 2008 election, Beers was the President of the National Security Network, a network of experts seeking to foster discussion of progressive national security ideas around the country, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, starting both in 2004." He was also national security advisor for the 2004 Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign.

Earlier Service in Government
Rand Beers resigned his National Security Council (NSC) position as special assistant to President George Walker Bush for combatting terrorism five days before the invasion of Iraq.

Beers is described as a "lifelong bureaucrat, unassuming and tight-lipped until now. He is an unlikely insurgent. He served on the NSC under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton and the current Bush."

However, on June 16, 2003, "Eight weeks after leaving the Bush White House, he volunteered as national security adviser for Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), a Democratic candidate for president, in a campaign to oust his former boss."

"When asked about Beers, Sean McCormack, an NSC spokesman, said, 'At the time he submitted his resignation, he said he had decided to leave government. We thanked him for his three decades of government service.' McCormack declined to comment further."

"However it was viewed inside the administration, onlookers saw it as a rare Washington event. 'I can't think of a single example in the last 30 years of a person who has done something so extreme,' said Paul C. Light, a scholar with the Brookings Institution. 'He's not just declaring that he's a Democrat. He's declaring that he's a Kerry Democrat, and the way he wants to make a difference in the world is to get his former boss out of office.'"

-- From the American President.org Web Site:
 * Member, Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Latin America

"Rand Beers earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1964. Following graduation he served in the Marines (1964-1968), acting as Rifle Company Commander during his stint in Vietnam. After he returned from duty, Beers earned an M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1970.

"Beers entered the foreign service in 1971, working for the Department of State in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, where he held a number of positions, including: deputy assistant secretary for regional affairs and export control, deputy for strategy and the operations coordinator for regional affairs and security assistance, director of the Office of Security Analysis and the Office of International Security Policy, and deputy director of the Office of Policy Analysis. He then served on the National Security Council staff in various positions, including senior director and special assistant to the President for intelligence programs.

"After a decade with the National Security Council, President William J. Clinton appointed Beers first principal deputy assistant secretary of state, and then assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs (1998). Beers remained in this position for four years, returning to the National Security Council in 2002 as special assistant and senior director for combating terrorism.

"Beers left the Bush administration in March 2003, signing on with Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA) as national security adviser for Kerry's 2004 presidential election bid." --- 15 August 2002: "Statement on Appointment of Rand Beers as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism"

"National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice announced today the appointment of Mr. Rand Beers as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism, effective August 19, 2002.

"For the last four years, Mr. Beers served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. He has also held various positions in the State Department's Bureau of Political Military Affairs: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs and Export Control, Deputy for Strategy and the Operations Coordinator for Regional Affairs and Security Assistance, Director of the Office of Security Analysis and the Office of International Security Policy, and Deputy Director of the Office of Policy Analysis. Additionally, he has served three times on the National Security Council staff and was the Deputy Political Advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.

"A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Beers holds two degrees in history: a B.A. from Dartmouth (1964) and a M.A. from the University of Michigan (1970). He is married to Bonnie Beers; they have two children." --- As of September 1998, Beers was "a member of the Senior Executive Service and had been serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs since January 1998. Prior to that, he served on the National Security Council staff in various positions for the last ten years, including most recently as Senior Director and Special Assistant to the President for Intelligence Programs. During the 1980's and 1970's, he served as a Foreign Service Officer and Civil Servant at the Department of State, primarily in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs."

He served "in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1964 to 1968, including service in Vietnam as a Rifle Company Commander."

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Other Related SourceWatch Resources

 * counterterrorism
 * John Forbes Kerry: U.S. Presidential Campaign 2004