Biden to Tap Veteran Diplomat William Burns as CIA Chief

By Polityk | 11/01/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden announced Monday he will nominate career diplomat William Burns to be his director of the Central Intelligence Agency.In a statement Monday, Biden’s transition team said Burns is a 33-year U.S. State Department veteran who has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents.Burns rose through the ranks of the diplomatic corps and served as ambassador to Jordan under former U.S President Bill Clinton and ambassador to Russia under former U.S. President George W. Bush. The 64-year old diplomat was named deputy secretary of state in 2011 by U.S. President Barack Obama before retiring in 2014 to run the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace.In a statement, President-elect Biden said Burns’ bipartisan experience ensures he will bring an “apolitical” approach and perspective to intelligence that will keep America safe.   “The American people will sleep soundly with him as our next CIA Director,” said Biden of Burns.Ambassador Burns has received three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and the highest civilian honors from the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community. He attended LaSalle University in Philadelphia where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and earned a master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.